Benedict College is once again bucking a national enrollment trend. For the second consecutive year, the Columbia, South Carolina, HBCU has welcomed an incoming class made up of a majority of male students, a notable feat as colleges nationwide continue to grapple with gaps in male enrollment.
The milestone is especially significant at an HBCU, where women have historically represented a larger share of the student population. And at Benedict, this isn’t just a one-year anomaly. Last year, men accounted for 54 percent of Benedict College’s incoming fall class. This year, they made up 53 percent.
Those numbers stand out against broader enrollment patterns. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, men made up about 42 percent of undergraduate students nationwide in 2024. Among Black 18- to 24-year-olds, the college enrollment rate was 32 percent for men compared with 39 percent for women in 2022…