Are historically black colleges (HBCU) a financial rip off?

A payscale.com study provides the Return on Investment (ROI) for various universities. The universities with the top ROI were fairly unsuprising: 1) Cal Tech, 2) Harvey Mudd, 3) MIT, ....

But one thing that immediately jumped out was a disproportionate number of histocially black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the bottom 50. Here are the ranks for some HBCU’s:

Howard University…........................321
Hampton University…......................548
Tuskegee University….....................557
Morehouse College….......................683
Xavier University of Louisiana….........718
North Carolina A&T State University….753
Florida A&M University….................~761
Tennessee State University…............779
Winston-Salem State University…......867
North Carolina Central University….....901
Southern University and A&M College..921
Morgan State University…................987
Lincoln University…........................1014
Norfolk State University…................1020
Fayetteville State University….........1033
Grambling State University…............1036
Texas Southern University…............1037
Shaw University…..........................1052

To put this in perspective, Howard University, one of the best HCBU’s, is on par with universities like LSU and Cal State Long Beach when it comes to recouping one’s investment. The ROI of Shaw University is marginal once you factor in inflation. You would be better off better off putting it in stocks.

Considering that most applicants at HBCU’s are financially-disadvantaged to begin with, is it time to acnowledge HBCUs have largely been a flop in their stated-purpose?

Here is the link:

http://www.payscale.com/education/average-cost-for-college-ROI-2011