Enrollment in the Triad’s historically Black colleges and universities is on the rise.
The University of North Carolina system as a whole saw enrollment increase by a little more than 1% from last fall. But rates were much higher for HBCUs, like Winston-Salem State University, with a nearly 5% jump.
Chancellor Bonita Brown says the school has been working to raise awareness about WSSU, with things like the bus tour she led when she took office in 2024.
"I literally took one of our wrapped WSSU buses with the band and cheer and the whole admissions department, and we went to high schools all across the state," Brown said. "And so now we're seeing some of those juniors, who were in the audience, they're now here, because of that experience.”
Brown also pointed to expanded online and graduate degree offerings, as well as the fact that HBCU enrollment is surging all over the country.
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University also saw an enrollment increase of roughly 3%. And North Carolina Central University, an HBCU in Durham, had the highest growth of all schools in the UNC system at about 9%.