DETROIT – December 8, 2021 -- Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is partnering with Common Black College Application (CBCA) to provide students with an opportunity to apply to the nation’s most renowned Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU’s), the District announced today.  

Through the venture with CBCA, DPSCD will pay the normal $20 fee that is charged to students and their families to apply. Together with CBCA’s streamlined application that can be submitted in one click, DPSCD students now have another tool to being college and career ready, in alignment with one of the District’s priorities, outstanding achievement.  

“Through this partnership with CBCA, high school seniors will be able to apply to up to 64 HBCU’s at no cost,” said Nicole Carter, Senior Director of Guidance & Counseling, High School Transformation for the District. “The Common Black College Application opens doors to viable college options that may not have been otherwise explored.”  

Established in the fall of 2000, Common Black College Application has become one of the most recognized educational services in the country. To date, more than 250,000 students nationwide have completed the CBCA to its member institutions, which include: Tuskegee University, Grambling State University, Wilberforce University, Fisk University, Clark Atlanta University and many more. The positive impact of an HBCU educational experience is being lived by DPSCD alumni as well as from today’s student’s eager for the opportunity. 

“It helped me grow from a boy with an inner-city attitude into a man that had a broader understanding of the world,” said Ronald Coleman, an Exceptional Student Education teacher at Southeastern High School and a 1994 graduate of DPS’ Cooley High School, who attended Grambling. “It also made me more appreciative of my blackness by helping me to develop a deeper level of consciousness.”  A similar sentiment also reverberates with today’s generation of DPSCD students who aspire to attend an HBCU, such as Kona Jones, a senior, also at Southeastern. “I want to attend an HBCU because it will provide me with the opportunity to be surrounded and enriched by people who look like me.”  

The partnership with CBCA is the District’s latest step in its HBCU Initiative for the 2021-22 school year. Upcoming activities being planned include an HBCU Virtual Panel Discussion as well as other events. In October, DPSCD’s Transformational High School Team hosted a virtual district wide Historically Black Colleges and Universities Night to raise awareness of the merits of HBCU’s to the community. 

More information on Common Black College Application as well as DPSCD’s HBCU Initiative can be found on the District website at www.detroitk12.org. 

About Detroit Public Schools Community District       

Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) is Michigan’s largest public education system. It is governed by a locally elected, seven-member board with Dr. Nikolai Vitti serving as superintendent. The District’s mission is to provide every student with a beneficial and rightful educational experience, preparing students to be career and college ready, and qualified to compete in the global market. The District has more than 100 schools and educates 49,000 children. For more information, visit detroitk12.org and follow @detroitk12 on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.