I loved attending an HBCU, but now I'm still struggling with student loan debt 20 years later. I don't want the same for my kids.

The author graduated from an HBCU.

Courtesy of Chantel Henry

Since I was 11, I dreamed of attending a historically Black college or university.That dream started at Morgan State University in Baltimore, where I spent two weeks each summer in a program focused on leadership and academics.For a preteen growing up in Baltimore City, Morgan felt like another world. I had seen drug deals outside my front door and heard gunshots while playing hide and seek with friends. My mother refused to let our neighborhood define what I thought was possible for my life.At Morgan, I saw Black students carrying backpacks and briefcases, preparing for careers and building futures. They looked like the life my mother kept telling me I could have.But it's not the life I think my kids need.I applied to one collegeWhen college application season came, I applied to one school: Clark Atlanta University.My guidance counselor warned me to give myself more options. I had a high GPA and felt certain I would get in.Then summer 2006 came, and my friends started receiving acceptance letters. Finally, I checked my mail and saw the message I had been waiting for. I had been accepted.My excitement faded when I saw the cost.