White students looking for a less expensive college education and who don't mind being in the racial minority for a change are increasingly applying to historically black colleges and universities. Some public HBCUs have been required by law to diversify their student populations, but at schools like Morehouse, white students are not heavily recruited and make a "conscious decision" to attend. In general, black schools are probably more attractive to some non-blacks because they're cheaper and offer more scholarships than other universities.

Private, historically black schools cost an average of $10,000 less per year than their traditionally white counterparts, according to the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education.

The head of the association says lower costs are not the only thing the schools have to offer. Whites who attend the schools are preparing for an “increasingly black and brown world,” said Lezli Baskerville, the association’s president and CEO.

“If you want to know how to live in one, you can’t grow up in an all-white neighborhood, go to a predominantly white school, white cultural and social events, go to a predominantly white university and then thrive in a world that is today more black, more brown than before,” Baskerville said.

White students say they’ve taken valuable experiences from their time at black colleges. Skin color, the students say, is much more of a factor away from the campuses than it is on them.

If that last line is true, then white students experience the exact opposite racial situation at black schools than I did at my predominately white school. I'm interested in the type of white person who chooses to attend an all-black college, because I'm sure that finances are not the only reason, as the article states. If it was, we would probably see a lot more whites on HBCU campuses than we already do.

[MSNBC]