Leaders at historically Black universities are considering changing some of their admissions practices in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on affirmative action - and, in some cases, are anticipating becoming more selective as they brace for an influx in applicants.

The ruling, which bars colleges from using race as a factor when considering which students to admit, has shaken higher education, dismantling a tool that some schools had used to increase diversity.

However, at historically Black colleges and universities, commonly referred to as HBCUs, the ruling is sparking conversations inside admissions offices about how to manage a surge of prospective students. Some leaders are expecting to field more applications from students who are seeking environments they perceive to be more welcoming - echoing trends that followed anti-racism uprisings in 2020 as Black students sought academic safe havens - while also looking for ways to allow students to talk openly during the admissions process about race.

"It's messaging," said Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president at Ed Trust, an education advocacy group. "The assessment could be made by students that these institutions don't want us, even if they weren't using race as a factor in admissions anyway."

But HBCUs could also face a strain on already limited resources. These institutions have played an outsize role in educating Black Americans - representing 3 percent of colleges yet producing roughly 20 percent of African American graduates - but, due to historical underfunding, have struggled with issues such as crumbling infrastructure and housing shortages, exacerbated by enrollment bumps and a lack of affordable off-campus options. There is also a digital divide between some HBCUs and more well-financed predominantly White institutions, with disparities ranging from their cybersecurity infrastructure to the stability of WiFi.

"Even the most resourced institutions are experiencing greater demand than they can meet," said Michael Lomax, president and chief executive of the United Negro College Fund, a scholarship provider.

At Howard University, which has experienced an enrollment boom in recent years, officials may start interviewing prospective undergraduates as an additional layer of screening, Wayne A.I. Frederick, the school's president said. When Frederick took the helm a decade ago, Howard was receiving about 6,000 applications every admissions cycle, he said. That number has since spiked to more than 32,000.

If applications continue to flood in, Frederick said, "I'm not necessarily sure that's a good thing because we have limited funding, and our capacity to support those numbers and expand enrollment is limited."

David A. Thomas, president of Morehouse College in Atlanta, shared similar concerns: "If our applicant pool doubles, we could not double our student body without seriously compromising the quality of our education." The school is already anticipating a surge in applications - from 6,000 students this year to between 9,000 and 12,000 over the next three years. Thomas did not say if any admissions practices will change but said officials "will have to make sure we continue to admit an economically diverse group of students and continue to serve poor and working-class students," as the they sort through large application pools.

Although Florida outlawed race-based college admissions practices more than 20 years ago, schools in the state could still tweak their processes. A surge of applications at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee could result in school turning students away and becoming more selective, William Hudson Jr., vice president of student affairs, said. Already teeming with 9,000 students, the campus can accommodate just 10,000 students - and application numbers have already been on the rise in recent admissions cycles.

Experts also noted this newfound attention will probably not affect all HBCUs equally, particularly smaller schools in rural parts of the country. "In bigger states, where students may not know the institutions, [they] will gravitate to the name brand," Del Pilar said.

In Maryland, admissions officials are thinking of ways to give prospective students the chance to share their racial backgrounds. Bowie State University may add an essay component to applications, Aminta Hawkins Breaux, the school's president, said. Admissions officials at Morgan State University in Baltimore are also thinking of using essay prompts, application questions or recommendation letters to encourage students to talk about their race.

But Khala Granville, Morgan State's director of undergraduate admission and recruitment, warned those solutions could place additional burdens on students and overworked high school guidance counselors who, in some urban districts, have hundreds of students to help. "To reasonably think that I'm going to write 400 recommendation letters just so I can tell the story of my BIPOC kid and how they should be admitted to this university," she said, "I don't support that."

The Baltimore university historically has not considered an applicant's race during admissions but will start hiding that information from application reviewers "so that it even more so isn't available for them to see," Granville said, adding that campuses are awaiting additional guidance from the Department of Justice.

Morgan State, like Howard, has also enjoyed historical enrollment growth recently. But if that continues, it will be because of the school's academic offerings, not because students are choosing HBCUs as backups.

"We're not default institutions. We are some of the most selective schools," Granville said. "The increase of applications and interest in HBCUs, at least from Morgan's standpoint, has been really driven by the increased academic opportunities that we have here."