WASHINGTON WATCH: Examining The State Of HBCUs & How They Can Survive

HBCUs have educated freed slaves, helped create the black middle class, and still train most of the country's black professionals; but many of the nation's historically black colleges and universities could soon disappear in a sea of red ink.

Morris Brown College in Atlanta and St. Paul's College in Virginia face closure, unable to pay millions in overdue bills. Virginia Union University, Grambling University and Fisk University are all in a financial crisis. Morehouse College, alma mater of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Spike Lee, has furloughed some professors and staff to make ends meet. Other HBCUs are likely to do the same if we can not find a way to keep them afloat.