Black College Expo

The Black College Expo is a yearly event at the LA Convention Center that features 50 of the 101 HBCU’s in the United States. It is targeted toward high school juniors and seniors.

HBCU is an acronym short for Historically Black Colleges & Universities. These schools were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to serve the African American community. At the time, the overwhelming majority of white higher-learning institutions disqualified African Americans from attending because of segregation.

This event was created by the National Colleges Resources Foundation (NCRF) to provide Black students access to college admission representatives from some of the most prominent HBCU’s in the country. Over the past 18 years, the Black College Expo has helped provide over $300,000,000 in scholarships and grants, and it has helped secure college acceptance for more than 400,000 students. Because of its emphasis on guidance and financial assistance, this expo is especially beneficial for first-generation college students. In addition to providing scholarship opportunities, on-the-spot acceptances, and the chance to talk to admission representatives, the event is great at providing practical college advice on applications, financial aid, and future career plans.

As is always the case during these events, the LA Convention Center was packed with Black students dressed for success and holding their transcripts and SAT/ACT scores. These documents can help get application fees waived and even result in on-the-spot acceptances. Students interested in applying to a school’s band or orchestra even brought their instruments.

The expo also features a job fair that connects students with potential employers, student marching bands, a professional step show, celebrity guests, and Black-owned shops that sell items ranging from Afro-centric clothing, HBCU hoodies and merch, jewelry, bags, and art. This year’s celebrity guests were the Westbrooks. For the first time, this year’s expo also featured a special shop devoted solely to providing free prom dresses to senior girls.

High school students weren’t the only people milling around the expo. Alumni and supporters of HBCU’s were also present, proudly displaying their college on their clothes. This was especially true for alumni who had been part of a fraternity or sorority. For example, Howard’s sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha donned their pink and green varsity jackets.

“It’s really great we have an expo like this in California,” says Cyanna Dubois, a senior from Centennial High school. “HBCU’s are really Southern-based. If we didn’t have the expo, a lot of west coast black people probably wouldn’t go to HBCU’s unless they did their own research. But now we have an expo to help us.”

Cyanna, who is an albino African American, also added, “Having the expo actually helped me be more comfortable in my skin. Since I was albino, I used to get teased and felt like I didn’t belong with my black brothers and sisters.”

Eastside senior Taz Miller was also impressed. “The expo is such a great place for black students,” she says. “It’s really exciting to go and get accepted on the spot.”

During the event, Eastside students were accepted to several HBCU’s, including Grambling, Tuskegee, Morgan State, Stillman, and Talladega.

If you’d like to attend next year’s expo, go to the NCR Foundation website to reserve your spot. Tickets are $8.