South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster Declares New 'HBCU Day'

South Carolina HBCUs like Benedict College and Claflin University will be celebrated with a new day thanks to the state’s governor! Get the full story from Sophie Brams at 2 News below.

Governor Henry McMaster signed a bill that aims to honor the contributions and efforts of historically Black colleges and universities into law on Tuesday.

Governor Henry McMaster signed H.4575 which officially designates the third Tuesday of February every year as ‘Historically Black Colleges and Universities Day’ in South Carolina.

The bill was passed by unanimous decision in the South Carolina Senate last week.

South Carolina has eight HBCUs–2 are private and 6 are public. The Higher Education Act of 1965 The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, defines an HBCU as: ‘…any historically black college or university that was established prior to 1964, whose principal mission was, and is, the education of black Americans.”

Together, those HBCUs generate roughly $463 million in economic impact for the state and generate close to 5,000 jobs, split evenly between on-campus and off-campus jobs. Each $1 million initially spent by a South Carolina HBCU and its students creates 12 jobs.

HBCUs, in general, are responsible for more than 40 percent of Black engineers, including 47 percent of Black women engineers, 70 percent of Black doctors and dentists, 50 percent of Black lawyers, and 80 percent of Black judges.

In South Carolina, an HBCU graduate working full time can expect to earn $913,000 in additional income due to having college credentials.

“This is a historic moment,” McMaster said. “The reason South Carolina is so strong, one of the reasons, is because of the contributions of our HBCUs.