A recent recipient of the ProQuest/UMI Distinguished Thesis Award from the Council of Historically Black Graduate Schools, Bowie State University graduate school alumnus Natalie McCarter’s research on guidance counselors’ perceptions of Maryland HBCUs can be described as nothing less than groundbreaking. McCarter’s work  provides scientific background for how HBCUs can redefine perspectives on their mission and recruiting model, and how fast this redefinition must take place.

A wife and a mother, McCarter is also an admissions officer with BSU. She recently answered a few questions relative to her research, and its potential impact on HBCUs and secondary schools.

1. Briefly discuss the findings of your research and describe the most telling aspect of guidance counselors’ perspectives on HBCUs.

Through this study, high school guidance counselors throughout Maryland were examined to measure their collective perception of the four HBCUs in Maryland: Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, and University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Counselors held several perceptions of HBCUs. Overall, 43% of counselors feel that HBCUs in Maryland have a good image and reputation and 67% of counselors’ overall perception is that HBCUs provide students with a quality education. However, the majority of counselors feel that the minimum Grade Point Average and SAT requirements at HBCUs in Maryland hurt their overall image and reputation. Findings also confirm that counselor characteristics, such as age, sex, race, and educational background affect their perceptions of postsecondary institutions in several areas.

2. Personally, were you surprised by your findings? Why or why not?

As a graduate of an HBCU in Maryland, who has had a wonderful academic experience, some of the results were surprising, especially the percentage of counselors with a negative perception of HBCUs who have never attended an HBCU. Results of the study indicate that alumni and previous attendees of HBCUs are more likely to advise students to attend a Maryland HBCU than counselors who never attended a HBCU. Counselors under 40 also are more likely to advise students to attend a Maryland HBCU than counselor over 40 years of age.

3. Institutionally, what would be your recommendations to dispel the negative perceptions, and reinforce the positive ones?

Current perceptions about HBCUs are fundamental to their successful continued growth. A few of the recommendations from the study are that

1) HBCUs need to address the minimum requirements issue, generally related to the low GPA and SAT requirements needed to gain admission into HBCUs in Maryland. If the requirements are to stay the same, then it is necessary for HBCUs to explain, though marketing collateral, the benefits of access to those students who have not displayed academic success in high school as well as state the benefits of why high academic achievers also should consider HBCUs,

2) HBCUs should establish stronger ties with counselors, high school students, and their parents through visits and college tour events,

3) Marketing efforts should be expanded beyond the recruitment and marketing staff to allow the active involvement of staff, faculty, alumni, and students. Counselors indicated that they want more visits from college representatives. Other employees, alumni, and students may assist in this effort by making recruitment a university-wide effort. The more positive information HBCUs tell their various audiences, the better the perception will be, and

4)HBCUs should develop targeted marketing messages that meet the needs of guidance counselors and other audiences by evaluating current marketing collateral such as college publications and advertisements.

4. What influenced your desire to conduct this research? Did your experiences at Bowie State engage your interest in this topic, and if so, how?

As an admissions recruiter for Bowie State, I visit high schools throughout Maryland, and in my experiences speaking with counselors and students, I realized that there were some misconceptions about HBCUs, and that inspired me to conduct this research. Prior to this research, Historically Black Colleges and Universities lacked sufficient data on how they are perceived by the various publics they serve. Knowing more about what their constituencies need allows HBCUs to make better marketing and enrollment decisions as well as improve their overall image and reputation. As an admissions recruiter, I know that the high school counselor is one of these constituents, considered the top influencers of high school students who are in the college selection process. Counselors can impact, favorably or unfavorably, HBCUs’ enrollment and image.

5. Do you hope to expand this research, and in what ways would you like to see its impact on secondary students and HBCUs?

I plan to expand this research in a doctoral program in the next few years as findings from this study definitely present opportunity for further research. Replication of this study in other states would be very beneficial in learning how HBCUs are perceived by their various publics, particularly high school counselors. This study could also be conducted again in Maryland using a different population, such as parents of high school seniors or teachers. Additionally, this study should be repeated every three to five years to see how perceptions are changing.

Counselors have noted improvements in HBCU image and reputation over the past five years but findings show that more promotion was needed to enhance the image. I hope that HBCUs use these findings to continuously positively promote the benefits of attending an HBCU and I hope that their efforts will show a positive increase in perceptions five years from now. Because at the end of the day, ‘perception is everything!’

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