What Is An HBCU? Trump Executive Order For Black Colleges Likely: Full List Of Universities That Could Benefit From New President

President Donald Trump met with dozens of educators and officials from historically black colleges and universities in the White House on Monday. The meeting came just days after he pledged to help the institutions of higher learning that are collectively and more commonly known as HBCUs.

That help was likely to come in the form of an executive order, according to Politico.

.@POTUS @realDonaldTrump with HBCUs amazing educators in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/epG88i9r9T
— Dan Scavino Jr. Archived (@Scavino45) February 28, 2017

Trump singled out HBCUs during his weekly address Saturday. "I also want to honor and promote the achievements of Historically Black Colleges and Universities throughout our Nation. They do a fantastic job," the president said. "They are not given the credit that they deserve, and they are going to start getting that credit."

That portion of Trump's weekly address could be an earnest attempt to endear himself to black people, of which 8 percent of the demographic's voters cast ballots for the president on Election Day. His pledge to HBCUs, however, could also be a thinly veiled jab at his predecessor, President Barack Obama, who was widely perceived to have not done enough for black colleges during eight years in Washington.

While Trump has made some questionable comments directed at the black community, some HBCU administrators have said they recognized the efforts he was making to ingratiate himself to African-Americans' educational endeavors. After winning the election, Trump was routinely involved in "listening sessions and sales pitches for the incoming administration to heavily invest in," McClatchy reported in December.

Shortly after that, the then-incoming Trump administration invited the marching band from Talladega College, an HBCU in Alabama, to perform at the inauguration. The band accepted, setting off a firestorm over Talladega's perceived support of a candidate who was openly backed by the Ku Klux Klan and white nationalists. In comparison, Howard University declined the same offer.

While not immediately being designated officially as HBCUs, the first black colleges were created in part as a byproduct of slavery, which in many cases didn't allow for the formal education of black people in the U.S. Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, was the first ever HBCU, having been founded in 1837.

Black colleges are, however, somewhat of a misnomer: One out of every student enrolled at an HBCU was not black, according to a study called The Changing Face of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and released in 2014.

There are 80 HBCUs across the country, but just a small handful of them had national name recognition. Among them were Howard University in Washington, D.C., Spelman College in Atlanta and Hampton University in southeastern Virginia. However, many others have rich academic traditions, as well. A full list of historically black colleges and universities follows below.

Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University

Alabama State University

Albany State University

Alcorn State University

Allen University

Arkansas Baptist College

Benedict College

Bennett College

Bethune-Cookman University

Bluefield State College

Bowie State University

Central State University