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The small number of HBCUs awarding graduate degrees results in “spiky” data, which makes it difficult to discern trends in degree completions at this level (see figure 5). Nevertheless, the data reveal a modest increase in both master’s and doctoral degrees at HBCUs from the turn of the century into the 2010s. From a low of 111 master’s degrees in the humanities in 2000, the number spiked to a high of 180 in 2012. Completions then fell to 120 degrees in 2016, followed by a partial recovery that brought the number up to 140 in 2022. Similarly, at the doctoral level, the number rose from a low of 11 humanities doctorates awarded in 2001 to a high of 43 in 2015, before a sharp decline after 2020 dropped PhDs awards to just 21 degrees. At both levels, the number of degree completions in 2022 was roughly the same as in 1997, but down substantially from the recent peak (a 22% decline in master’s degrees and a 51% decline in doctorates).

The humanities also accounted for a much smaller share of the graduate degrees being awarded at HBCUs (0.5% of all master’s and professional degrees awarded in 2022 and 0.6% of the doctoral degrees). Looking back to 1997 (the earliest data point available), the shares of humanities degrees awarded in 2022 by HBCUs were slightly above the historical average for doctoral degrees and close to the average for master’s and professional degrees.

The number of HBCUs awarding graduate degrees has varied from year to year throughout the 25 years for which data are available. From 1997 to 2022, the number HBCUs awarding master’s and professional degrees in the humanities ranged from a low of 12 to a high of 19 (with 15 awarding such degrees in 2022). Only four HBCUs awarded doctoral degrees in the humanities during this time period (Clark Atlanta University, Howard University, Morgan State University, and Virginia University of Lynchburg), and the bulk of these degrees (60%) were awarded by Howard University.