Texas-based HBCU Huston-Tillotson University is expanding into California. The move will improve access to HBCUs on the West Coast for students looking to apply to HBCUs.

Per the Austin American-Statesman, California has no historically Black undergraduate colleges, and the university is partnering with the San Diego Unified School District and National College Resources Foundation, a nonprofit aiming to bolster higher education completion rates for underrepresented groups, to change that. It will have satellite campuses in San Diego and Los Angeles County.

Huston-Tillotson University President Melva Wallace told the outlet the institution will begin offering remote courses to California students in January, and the university intends to receive approval from California officials to open a campus there by August.

“Being the first undergraduate HBCU in California, it’s just an amazing thing,” she said.

She added, “There’s a scroll of things longer than I-35 that could possibly fail, but we are focusing on all of the ways that we can make this happen for those kids out there who want to attend an HBCU and just don’t have access.”

Texas has seen an influx of former California residents, and the partnership will help strengthen the workforce pipeline even more.

“If it’s working for the corporate and workforce, why don’t we take the lead on building the pipeline for workforce by training more California students to enter into the workforce here?” Wallace said.

huston-tillotson university

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