Enrollment is continuing to decline at Virginia’s two historically black state universities.

Both Norfolk State and Virginia State are projecting additional reductions of 400 to 500 students when classes begin in a few weeks.

The two schools hit their fall enrollment peak in 2012, according to the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia.

That year, SCHEV data shows that NSU reported 7,100 students and VSU reported 6,208 students, fueling rosy plans for expansion,

VSU, for example, prepared a master plan for developing the campus to accommodate the 10,000 students it expected to serve by 2020.

But that optimistic outlook is being shelved as the two schools struggle to fill their existing classrooms.

The first sign of trouble appeared in the fall of 2013 when both schools reported enrolling about 400 students fewer than the previous year.

Now, the additional drop in enrollment expected this fall will return both schools to student numbers of five years ago.

The losses of students are beginning to bite into both schools’ budgets. Already there is talk of cutbacks in faculty, staff and programs from the two presidents, Eddie N. Moore Jr. at NSU and Dr. Keith T. Miller at VSU.

The two schools are hardly alone in dealing with falling student numbers. In Virginia, state data indicate enrollment is flat or declining at most colleges and universities, with private Liberty, Regents and Virginia Union universities among the few exceptions in reporting rising enrollment.

The situations at NSU and VSU exemplify the problems that many historically black schools are facing in filling seats.

First, higher costs are having an impact. These schools traditionally have served students from families that have fewer resources and need financial aid.

An estimated 84 percent of students at historically black schools receive Pell Grants, which are federal, need-based funds awarded to low-income students.

Such grants do not cover all expenses. Many students still are hard-pressed to cover the full price of tuition, room, board, books and other costs that now top $20,000 per year for in-state students even at a state-supported school.

Loans have become more difficult to get since the Great Recession. Stiffer federal credit standards imposed two years ago have left out thousands of would-be students and their parents.

Shortcomings in education also have an impact on these schools that often accept a percentage of less prepared students with below average SAT scores and less than stellar grades. Every year, a portion of the students lose access to federal aid and loans for failing to meet minimum standards for satisfactory academic progress, usually a 1.5 grade point average on a 4-point scale the first year.

In addition, the competition for students has ratcheted up.

Historically black schools once were the only option for most black students, who made up almost 100 percent of their enrollment before the 1964 Civil Rights Act forced open once closed school doors.

Today, only 11 percent of black high school seniors choose a historically black college or university.

Marybeth Gasman, an expert on historically black colleges at the University of Pennsylvania, said predominantly black schools have had a tougher time attracting a more diverse student body, though one in four students now are Latino, Asian-American, white or other ethnicity.

In her view, the schools fill a need. Data show, she said that these schools do the “lion’s share” of the work to provide an academic home for first generation students who might be turned away elsewhere.

“Historically black colleges,” Dr. Gasman said, “serve low-income students, first generation students, adult learners, part-time students and students who might be what I call ‘swirlers’ who swirl in and swirl out of academe.”

“These schools,” she said, “are still playing an important role for students of color.”