For alumni of historically Black colleges and universities, homecoming is more than a football game. It is a family reunion, a fashion show and a pilgrimage. It has also grown into a major economic engine for the schools and the cities around them.

North Carolina A&T, Morgan State and Howard, the three largest HBCUs, together welcome about 350,000 returning graduates each fall. Morgan State estimates its weeklong celebration brings about $20 million into Baltimore. North Carolina A&T says visitors spend roughly $37 million in the Greensboro area.

South Carolina State spends a little more than $150,000 to host about 30,000 alumni and earns back about $1 million from tickets, parking and concerts. This year the school also took in nearly $3.8 million in gifts, which its advancement chief credits to pride passed down through generations.

Raised on the yard

Leelannee Malin grew up in New Orleans spending fall weekends at Southern University in Baton Rouge, where both of her parents earned degrees. She remembers cooking out on the campus quad among aunties, uncles and cousins who were family by choice. She went on to Clark Atlanta, where she was named to the homecoming court in 1997, then to Bowie State and Howard. Her son also went to Howard.

Now 49 and a communications professor at Xavier University of Louisiana, Malin still heads back to at least one alma mater each fall. Coming home, she says, means relaxing, indulging and letting people love on you, all while supporting the school.

Worth every dollar

Alumni plan for months. Alabama State graduate Travis C. Smith organizes a Thursday-to-Sunday trip for 20 friends. Out-of-towners spend at least $1,500 each. Norfolk State graduate Courtney Haywood has booked lashes, nails, a makeup artist and a stylist and bought outfits in school colors to show how far she has come.

Smith says the payoff is priceless: a few days to live in pure Black excellence without thinking about race. Higher education professor Leslie U. Ekpe says the gatherings also make graduates feel responsible for their schools and eager to give back through mentoring and time.

By 2030 most HBCUs will have marked 100 years of homecoming. The pageants now crown royalty from dorms and student groups, tailgates run all day and many campuses add service projects and charity 5K runs to the weekend.