Why HBCUs Must Be at the Forefront of Fintech Education

Fintech is transforming the financial landscape, from mobile banking and digital payments to blockchain and cryptocurrency. For Black communities, this transformation presents both tremendous opportunity and familiar challenges.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have a critical role to play in this moment. They are uniquely positioned to equip the next generation of Black financiers, technologists, and entrepreneurs with the skills to not just participate in fintech, but to lead it.

This article explores why HBCUs must be at the forefront of fintech education, backed by data on Black investment trends and cryptocurrency adoption, and highlights how tailored initiatives can empower students to build solutions for their communities.

The Rise of Young Black Investors in America

Recent studies show that Black Americans are reshaping the face of the retail investing world – and they’re doing so at a young age. Nearly half of Black investors are between 18 and 34 years old, a vastly higher share of youth participation than among white investors (only 21% of whom fall in that age range). In other words, Black investors today skew much younger than their white counterparts.

This youth-driven wave is fueled by the democratization of finance: app-based brokers, fractional shares, and widespread investing information on social media have lowered barriers to entry. The result has been a spike in interest and participation among young Black Americans.

Many of these new investors taught themselves the ropes or leaned on peer networks, since investing historically hasn’t been as common in some Black communities due to socio-economic and generational gaps. Their motivations blend the traditional goal of long-term wealth with additional drivers like short-term gains, learning financial skills, and investing responsibly for social impact. This all paints a picture of a rising Black investor class that is youthful, motivated, and eager to embrace new financial ideas.

Black Households as Early Adopters of Cryptocurrency

Given that Black investors are increasingly young and early adopters, it’s no surprise that Black Americans have also been at the forefront of the cryptocurrency revolution. Surveys confirm that Black consumers jumped into crypto at higher rates than their white peers even in the early days of adoption.

In 2021, for example, 18% of Black adults in the U.S. had invested in or used cryptocurrency, compared to 13% of white adults. This gap in crypto participation – with Black Americans leading – stands in stark contrast to traditional assets like stocks, where Black ownership lags behind. In 2019, for instance, 61% of white households owned stocks, versus only 34% of Black households. In fact, Black consumers are more likely to own cryptocurrencies than to own stocks or mutual funds – a reversal of the pattern seen in white households.

What explains this enthusiasm for crypto in Black communities? Part of it is demographics. Young people drive crypto adoption across the board, and Black Americans are a younger population on average (more than half are millennials or younger). Over 50% of Black cryptocurrency users are millennials or Gen Z, a digital-native group comfortable with new tech.

But there’s more to it. Due to a history of exclusion from traditional finance, Black Americans see decentralized finance as an opportunity to leapfrog into the future. “Black technologists have been among the first to adopt cryptocurrencies, and many have done so in the name of racial equity,” notes one study.

Early Black adopters recognized crypto’s potential to level the playing field – whether by bypassing biased gatekeepers, creating new streams of wealth, or funding ventures outside the traditional banking system. As researcher Terri Bradford observed, this trend is driven by “historical context as well as the forward-looking views of young consumers”.

In other words, Black crypto enthusiasts are motivated not only by profit but by the promise of a financial system that they can help shape on their own terms.

Ready to Shape the Future, Yet Held Back by Exclusion

These trends send a clear message: Black communities are ready and eager to shape the future of finance.

A new generation of Black investors is diving into markets, and Black households were among the earliest to experiment with fintech and crypto tools. This momentum, however, exists alongside persistent structural barriers that threaten to hold these would-be innovators back. The ugly reality is that Black Americans have faced long-standing exclusion from mainstream financial systems.

Traditional banks and investment firms have often underserved or outright failed Black communities, contributing to stark disparities in wealth and access. For example, Black households’ median wealth is less than 15% of that of white households (about $24k vs. $188k in 2019).

Generations of discrimination in lending, homeownership, and employment mean Black families have had fewer opportunities to build intergenerational wealth. It’s no wonder, then, that many turned to cryptocurrency as a “relatively quick way to close the wealth gap,” despite its risks.

Structural exclusion isn’t just about wealth statistics – it’s lived experience.

Higher unbanked rates in Black communities, lower approval rates for loans, and marginalization in tech industries all signal that simply being participants in the financial system is not enough. Black Americans often have to find alternative paths to financial empowerment because the traditional paths were riddled with roadblocks.

As we at Blaze Group, a Black-founded finance education firm, have pointed out previously: “Traditional banking systems have failed to serve Black and marginalized communities, limiting economic mobility. Fintech solutions have the power to bridge these gaps — but only if we train the right people to design them.” In short, the tools of fintech could help break cycles of exclusion – but only if Black communities are in positions to create and steer those tools.

Why Fintech Education at HBCUs Is Critical

This is where HBCUs come in. HBCUs have always been engines of opportunity, producing Black leaders in medicine, law, engineering, and more. Now, they must do the same in the realm of financial technology.

The data makes the case plain: Black students (many of them at HBCUs) are already among the most avid adopters of new financial products. So why shouldn’t they also be the architects of the next generation of those products?

If Black communities are early adopters, HBCU classrooms should be incubators for early innovators. By establishing fintech programs, courses, labs, and incubators, HBCUs can equip their students to move from users to creators – to go from downloading the latest payment app to building the next one.

Consider the upside of such an educational focus. HBCU students trained in fintech development, blockchain engineering, or digital finance strategy will graduate not just with skills that are in high industry demand, but with an insider understanding of the financial needs of underserved communities.

They will be uniquely positioned to build products that solve problems their communities face – problems that others in Silicon Valley or on Wall Street might not even see. And given that nearly half of Black investors are under 35, many of these students are themselves part of the demographic driving change; they have the passion and context to fuel innovation if given the know-how.

On the flip side, if HBCUs don’t lead in this area, there’s a risk of missing a historic opportunity. Fintech is reshaping finance now, in real-time – standards and dominant platforms are being established today. If Black voices and perspectives aren’t at the table, the same old patterns of exclusion could simply get baked into new tech.

Representation in fintech creation is therefore not a luxury, but a necessity. HBCUs, which educate a large portion of Black STEM and business students, are the ideal venues to ensure that representation. By updating curricula to include fintech and blockchain, partnering with fintech companies for internships and research, and even launching campus fintech centers (like Morgan State University did, as the first HBCU with a FinTech center in 2018), HBCUs can assert leadership. It’s a natural extension of their historic mission to nurture Black excellence and community advancement.

Building Fintech Solutions for Community Needs

Empowering HBCU students in fintech isn’t just about career advancement – it’s about directly addressing the needs of Black communities through innovation. Many pain points that Black Americans experience can be alleviated with fintech solutions designed with those communities in mind.

Here are just a few examples of needs that an army of HBCU-trained fintech innovators could tackle:

• Affordable Cross-Border Remittances: Many Black families have ties across Africa, the Caribbean, and beyond, and they send money internationally to support loved ones. Yet sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region in the world for remittances, with average fees around 8% in recent years. Fintech can change that. By building mobile remittance apps, innovators can slash fees and make sure more money gets to the people who need it, rather than lost in transfer costs. For the African diaspora and others, cheaper and faster remittances would be life-changing.

• Transparent Cross-Currency Pricing for Diaspora Commerce: Black entrepreneurs increasingly engage in international e-commerce – think of a Howard University grad selling fashion to customers in Nigeria, or a Jamaican artisan shipping products to the U.S. They often confront opaque currency exchange markups and volatility. Fintech platforms could provide real-time, transparent exchange rates and multi-currency digital wallets, enabling diaspora businesses to trade confidently across borders. HBCU grads who understand both tech and the cultural context can design e-commerce payment solutions that simplify cross-currency transactions for the global Black diaspora.

• Giving Mechanisms Tied to Product Revenue: Envision fintech integrations that allow consumers to support Black causes automatically. For instance, a payment processing API that skims a tiny percentage of each sale and channels it into donations for grassroots organizations or alma maters. A team of HBCU alums could create a fintech product where every time someone uses a certain app or service, a portion goes into, say, a scholarship fund at an HBCU or a community bail fund. This is what HBCU$ is actively working on. By tying revenue to community reinvestment, fintech can build wealth and support social good in tandem. These kinds of “buy Black, give Black” mechanisms could provide sustainable funding streams for nonprofits, mutual aid, and educational institutions in Black communities.

These examples only scratch the surface. From credit-building apps for the underbanked, to AI advisors that understand cultural spending habits, the possibilities are vast.

The common thread is inclusivity: when Black innovators lead product development, the solutions tend to center on inclusion by default. They address gaps that others overlook. This is why it’s so vital to train a critical mass of Black fintech creators – because they will build the products that directly benefit Black households, businesses, and communities. And those solutions, while born from a specific cultural insight, often have broad applicability, making the financial system more accessible for everyone.

Equipping the Next Generation of Inclusive Innovators

Young Black innovators are poised to drive the future of fintech – with the right education and support, they will design a more inclusive financial system.

HBCUs stepping forward in fintech education is a powerful step toward a more equitable financial future. But they don’t have to do it alone. Partnerships and specialized programs can accelerate the process of getting cutting-edge fintech content into classrooms.

One example is Blaze Group’s Equitable Finance program – an initiative designed specifically to train the next generation of inclusive financial innovators. We created this program as a 12-module fintech curriculum that any college (or fintech institution) can adopt. It’s built to teach students how to develop fintech solutions that drive capital access in underserved communities.

For HBCUs, partnering with such a program can be a turnkey way to launch a fintech track without having to build one from scratch. Equitable Finance offers not just course content, but also tools like a dedicated online learning platform and private community channels for students. This means HBCU faculty can deliver state-of-the-art fintech training and connect students with a wider network of peers and mentors in the fintech space.

Ultimately, the goal is to produce graduates who are job-ready for high-impact fintech careers and primed to become fintech entrepreneurs or change-agents within financial institutions. Closing the fintech education gap at HBCUs isn’t just about keeping up with industry trends – it’s about leadership in defining what the future of finance looks like.

Black communities have shown they are early adopters and avid participants when given the chance. Now, by emphasizing fintech education, HBCUs can ensure Black talent is also at the helm: designing products, founding companies, and crafting policies. The needs are pressing – from more affordable remittances to fair credit access – and the energy and talent are already present on HBCU campuses.

With supportive programs and a commitment to innovation, HBCU students can transform that energy into solutions. They can build a financial future that is more inclusive, transparent, and just.

In conclusion, fintech represents a frontier where equity can either advance or retreat. By leading in fintech education, HBCUs will play an indispensable role in making sure it’s the former. They will empower young Black professionals not just to take part in the fintech wave, but to steer it – to blaze new trails in financial innovation that benefit their communities and the world at large. Programs like our Equitable Finance program and others are lighting the path, and it’s time for many others to follow. The next generation of fintech leaders is sitting in today’s HBCU classrooms; let’s give them the tools to change the game.