Coppin State Receives 23,000+ Undergraduate Applications For Next Year

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Coppin State University, a 126-year-old HBCU in Baltimore, has received more than 23,000 undergraduate applications for the upcoming academic year, the highest number of applications in the university’s history. 

In a statement on the school’s website, Coppin State President Anthony L. Jenkins said, ”Coppin’s mission has always centered on transforming lives through education. This record-breaking interest signals that more students than ever are looking to Coppin as a place where they can thrive academically, professionally, and personally.”

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Coppin’s application surge is occurring amid a 15 percent decline in college enrollment nationwide that stretches back to 2010 and 2021.

That, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The impact of Americans having fewer babies, which started at the beginning of the Great Recession around late 2007, has led to school closures. The falling birth rate has not recovered except for a slight increase after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 80 private non-profit colleges closed or merged between 2020 and 2025. The closures have impacted about 50,580 students. Enrollment declines are due to natural population trends and higher operating costs. BestColleges found that at least 12 public or nonprofit colleges merged or closed in 2025, with the schools closing mostly due to financial issues and declining enrollment. In the past five years, private nonprofits have outpaced for-profit schools in closures.

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For example, in Raleigh, N.C., Saint Augustine’s University, a 158-year-old HBCU lost its accreditation in December, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late April, and may operate as a trade school.

St. Augustine’s University outlined its plans in an April 28 statement on its website: “The University will continue to operate throughout the process, and a plan of reorganization is being developed to be submitted to the Court outlining SAU’s path forward.”

St. Augustine’s will “focus on supporting students through teach-out agreements, developing non-degree certificates and apprenticeship programs, and building a pathway toward reaccreditation.

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Jinawa McNeil, director of the Office of Admissions at Coppin, said, “Students are choosing Coppin because they see a university that believes in them, invests in them, and prepares them for meaningful careers and leadership opportunities. These application numbers demonstrate the growing demand for the Coppin experience.”

James Stewart, associate vice president for student development and achievement at Coppin, added, “Students want to attend institutions where they feel seen, supported, and empowered. Coppin is delivering that environment, and the response from students and families has been extraordinary.”

Dr. Joseph Jones, a political science professor at Clark Atlanta University, stressed the importance of preserving HBCUs, in a May 13 editorial in The Charlotte Post.

“In this fractured landscape, private Historically Black Colleges and Universities must stand not as mere alternatives, but as bold value impositions,” said Jones who also heads the WEB DuBois Center Southern Center for Studies in Public Policy. “We are the necessary counter-friction to a world that is becoming increasingly calculated, curated, and cold.”

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Jones added, “As the digital age engenders alienation, we offer social intimacy. As the political climate demands silence, we offer critique. We are the architects of a democratic future that refuses to leave the soul behind. In the face of rollbacks and robots, private HBCUs must remain vital, disruptive, and essential institutions.”

U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.), co-chairs of the HBCU Caucus recently introduced legislation that would establish a competitive federal grant program within the Department of Education to upgrade facilities at HBCUs, provide technical assistance to apply for and manage federal grants, and provide capital financing relief to institutions left out of prior federal assistance programs.