Students and alumni from HBCUs around the country are celebrating the vice president-elect's success, hoping it will change the misconceptions around the institutions' quality of education and graduates' social mobility.
Harris, a Howard University alumna, has regularly credited her education and even referred to it when she accepted the Democratic party's vice presidential nomination.
"When you attend an HBCU, there's nothing you can't do," Harris tweeted last month.
But she's only one of several female politicians and activists who have become trailblazers, years after attending HBCUs. Abrams, the former Georgia gubernatorial candidate, attended Spelman College in Atlanta and Keisha Lance Bottoms, the Atlanta Mayor and a surrogate for the Biden-Harris campaign, went to Florida A&M University.
While HBCUs represent about 3% of higher education institutions, they account for at least 17% of bachelor's degrees earned by African Americans, according to the United Negro College Fund.
But the impact of HBCUs goes beyond politics. For Marilyn Griffin, a high school teacher in Detroit, Michigan, attending an HBCU helped shape the person and educator she is now.
"I found a really big part of myself there, including self awareness and confidence that I didn't get growing up," said Griffin, 39, a graduate of FAMU.
Griffin says her interest in African American history grew while attending college and ultimately she decided to pursue a career in education. Now, she constantly encourages all of her students to learn about their heritage and culture.
"Every kid deserves to know where they come from no matter where they come from," she said.
HBCUs award about 20% of African American STEM bachelor's degrees, according to the United Negro College Fund. They have also fueled social and economic mobility for Black Americans.
A report released last year by the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions indicates that economic mobility is better for HBCU students than for students who attend other schools.
HBCUs enroll far more low-income students and nearly 70% of their students attain at least middle class incomes, the report states.