For the first time, an undergraduate HBCU will be making its way to California.
The Austin American-Statesman reports, Huston-Tillotson University has been approved to provide remote coursework to California students starting in January 2025. The Austin, TX-based Historically Black College and University (HBCU) also plans to open a physical campus by August 2025 — pending approval from several California agencies — in partnership with San Diego Unified School District and National College Resources Foundation.
Huston-Tillotson University President Melva Wallace states that the school was approached by the foundation and the objective is to create more inclusive career pipelines.
“If it’s working for the corporate and workforce, why don’t we take the lead on building the pipeline for workforce by training more California students to enter into the workforce here?” Wallace told the outlet. “Being the first undergraduate HBCU in California, it’s just an amazing thing.”
Wallace also shared the expectations surrounding Huston-Tillotson’s California campus. It will launch with a business administration program and an associate degree in liberal studies. At this time, it is unclear how many students will be admitted to the programs.
Wallace hopes that the momentum from the HBCU campus in Austin will carry over, as it enrolled its highest number of first-time freshmen in 2023, the school reported. In fact, 361 students have enrolled, reflecting a 17.6% increase. Additionally, it earned the distinction of being the No. 1 private HBCU in Texas by U.S. News & World Report.
“We want to be leaders in providing talent who are not just prepared to come in and sit at the cubicle and do a job, but that they can think critically,” Wallace said. “They come with a brightness about them. They come with a joy.”
Current faculty members are already interested in fostering students in California, and, according to Wallace, there is “a lot of energy” surrounding this sentiment.
“There’s a scroll of things longer than I-35 that could possibly fail, but we are focusing on all of the ways that we can make this happen for those kids out there who want to attend an HBCU and just don’t have access,” Wallace explained.
