Presidents and trustees from more than 100 historically black colleges are in Atlanta for the Southern Education Foundation's annual HBCU Governance and Institutional Effectiveness Seminar. The conference, held at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Atlanta, officially kicks off tonight and continues through Saturday. One of the seminar's key goals is how to help more students graduate.
Georgia doesn't have the highest number of HBCUs but it has some of the most famous, namely Morehouse and Spelman colleges. U.S. News & World Report routinely ranks Spelman as the No. 1 HBCU in the country. The state also has three public HBCUs -- Albany State, Fort Valley State and Savannah State universities.
Before the conference begins six college presidents -- including Clark Atlanta University President Carlton Brown -- participated in a media briefing to discuss the struggles facing their schools and opportunities as President Obama and other leaders place a greater emphasis on more people getting a college degree.
White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities Executive Director John Wilson says HBCUs need to increase their annual base of graduates from 36,000 a year to 50,000 to meet that goal. Wilson is scheduled to discuss the White House perspective on HBCUs Saturday.
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