Some historically Black colleges and universities are enrolling more men, and their leaders are now focused on getting those students to graduation.
In Columbia, South Carolina, Benedict College now enrolls more male than female undergraduates, making it one of the few HBCUs to do so. Dr. Roslyn Clark Artis, Benedict's president, said she believes the only other one is Morehouse College. Morehouse's enrollment rose from 2,152 students in 2020-21 to 2,847 in 2024-25, an increase of about 32%, according to College Tuition Compare.
"The trend is actually declining in terms of Black males attending college," said Jesse Tyson, a member of Benedict’s board of trustees and Grand Sire Archon of the Boulé Foundation and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity. "In this case, they actually have more males than females. And so that's kind of not the norm." The Boule Foundation granted the B.E.S.T. Man group with a $100,000 to support Benedict’s efforts to retain its male students.
Benedict's answer is B.E.S.T. Men, a mandatory program offering mentorship, guidance, and support for male freshmen that is designed to continue over four years. It is supported by a $100,000 grant from The Boulé Foundation. B.E.S.T. stands for belonging, educational excellence, service and thoughtfulness.
Students attend sessions with speakers and can join optional small group "chop it up" sessions of about 40 students, held every other week with trained facilitators. Those who attend six of eight small-group sessions become eligible for a pool from which 40 students will be chosen to study abroad in December.
"Servant leadership is not an option," said McDaniels, a retired homicide sergeant with the Richland County Sheriff's Department. "It's masterfully and spiritually stitched into the very fabric of this program."
In Baltimore, Coppin State University reported that new male undergraduate enrollment rose from 284 in fall 2025 to 403 in fall 2026. The increase came as part of the largest incoming class in the university's history. Coppin says its male enrollment is up 42% over last year and 74% since 2021.
Coppin relies on mentoring from upperclassmen, faculty and alumni. More than 60% of its incoming young men are first-generation college students, Jenkins said, and alumni help them navigate college and build pathways into careers. He said Coppin's retention rate is 77%, above the national average of 59.6%.
Dr. Anthony L. Jenkins, Coppin's president, said the university's male enrollment has increased every year since 2021. "Prior to that, male enrollment at Coppin, as it has been across the nation, has been declining," Jenkins said.
He credits the turnaround to a change in approach.
"We basically took the approach where we stopped telling males, and specifically Black males, what they wanted and started listening to what they actually wanted," Jenkins said.
Many male students asked why they needed college when they could get a job or go into a trade right out of high school, he said. Coppin answered with a longer view.
"Yes, you can, but with a business degree, you don't have to be the actual plumber. You can be the CEO. It could be your company," Jenkins said.
At Benedict, the cause is less clear. Artis said the number of male students crept up year over year for about seven years. About two years ago, it became clear men were tipping past 50%.
"We started focusing on it, paying attention to it, but I don't know that we actually orchestrated it," Artis said.
Dr. Walter McDaniels, Benedict's new chair of criminal justice administration and social sciences, said the care students receive starts with Artis and spreads through faculty and staff. Students then carry the message home.
"They're the ones that are actually calling back, and calling their cousins and telling their friends, 'Yo, you need to come here,'" McDaniels said. Female students have also spread the word to male cousins, he said, and one student can possibly bring in five others.
Leaders at both schools say the next challenge is getting these students to graduation. Artis said research shows Black women's graduation rates are sometimes 20 to 30 percentage points higher than Black men's. "If we don't intervene and put some systems in place to ensure equitable outcomes, we're going to see our graduation rates fall," she said.
Both presidents say the effort is not meant to come at the expense of women. "I'm not suggesting that the boys should have more opportunity or better opportunity than my women students," Artis said. "If I can catch them up, we all win."
Jenkins said campus leadership roles were mostly held by women when he arrived, and more men are now stepping up to compete for them. "We want to keep that going," he said. "This is not a this or this."
To build on the gains, Jenkins said he challenges new male students to share their experiences on social media and show their peers that college is doable. Tyson said that if another HBCU asked what Benedict is doing, both he and Artis would tell them.
For Jenkins, the results are measured in more than numbers. He said a mother once wrote to thank him after seeing how her son had changed at Coppin. Her letter said, word for word, "You saved his life."
"It's about the opportunity," Jenkins said. "It's about that transformation."
