An app created over a year ago by a group of young HBCU students for a school competition has now become one of the strongest assets to HBCU awareness and enrollment increase, HBCU HUB: Raising Enrollment.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of HBCU Hub Jonathan Swindell, a Senior at Grambling State University said the app came into fruition after winning the 1st Idea Competition at Grambling State University, with that also receiving a $1,000 prize to help launch the app. The primary goals of HBCU HUB is to increase HBCU awareness amongst their majority millennial audience, while also increasing enrollment on every HBCU campus. The app also provides a social market for HBCU businesses to sell products, personal tutor(s) for students, information on Divine 9 organizations, and Stop Shop for everything HBCU.
A new featured launched on the app, Live Chat allows for students, parents, and alumni to ask questions, communicate on HBCU related issues, or serve as a hangout to socialize with others.
In short, “HBCU HUB is the high school to HBCU Pipeline.” CEO Swindell said.
With a feature story from VIBE Magazine and ranked #5 on the “Top 5 Successful Black Owned Tech Companies To Check Out” from CampusLATELY, it’s evident that HBCU HUB is the premier app for HBCU interested students, current students, parents and alumni.
The team of HBCU HUB also consist of his Chief Operating Officer (COO) Grambling State student Justin Willis and Creative Director Morgan Adams who attends Southern University. With the combined brain power from these three innovative individuals, they have created an app that impacts the HBCU community and millennial generation. Director Morgan Adams experienced work in the field of social media and as a Creative Director aided in the drastic increase in HBCU HUB social presence, rising by 748% in three weeks.
In an effort to address HBCU enrollment issues, HBCU HUB created a “HUB Pack”. The HUB Pack is a free service provided by the app in exchange for basic student information that sends a student all the information they need to be accepted by any specific HBCU, while also allowing for students to go on an HBCU Tour. With this being the first of its kind this project launched by the app has already began to increase student interest and enrollment at several HBCUs.
“HUB Packs are ordered daily, we are literally helping students get into school each and every day.” says Swindell.
Although the perfect app may have just arrived, Swindell says that the app is still looking to contribute to the HBCU Community in bigger ways. The vision of the app in five years is to increase overall HBCU enrollment by 25% with a presence on every HBCU campus and in 10 years increase enrollment by 50% and offer full ride scholarships to any HBCU in the country on the expense of HBCU HUB. Apart of their vision for the upcoming years is also launch their HBCU HUB 10k Giveway,where they will travel to select HBCUs and rain down $10,000 cash for the students to go after and grab.
HBCU HUB believes that the same community that gave them the opportunity to launch this app and all the success that has come with; they are now in debt to. Providing opportunities that the HBCU community and millennial generation may not have been given before has been proven to be the primary goal.
“As we grow as a company, our efforts to give back will grow as well, our company success empowers our community, the same community that empowered us, we will never forget that.”
The app as also aided in funding several students to attend HBCUs who may not have any the necessary funds prior to. A feature on the app, “Scholarship Matchmaker” allows the user to take a test that determines what scholarships across the country they qualify for. In the past a student attending Howard University received over $77,000 in scholarship money after completing the test and will never have to worry about paying for school again.
With success like the company has had in recent times, the question almost becomes what can’t this app do?
Swindell believes the limit within this company is endless, “With so much accomplished in one year it really leaves the question of how far can this company go?”
Coming in August 2017, HBCU HUB will launch a new feature, “Student Connection” that will soon after become the what we recognized as the “Tinder for HBCUs.”
This revolutionary app has truly emerged into the market spotlight and will continue to ring the bell for HBCUs for years to come with hopes of one day moving from being an app to becoming a dominant HBCU based company.
In his final thoughts Swindell left HBCU Buzz with these short but very powerful words, “We are going to change the world.”
