Zebulon — More than 100 future collegians turned out for a college fair that featured the state’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Sponsored by the Eastern Regional Center, admissions officers and recruiters from colleges such as Fayetteville State University, N.C Central University and Bennett College joined their colleagues from places like Johnson C. Smith and St. Augustine’s College to talk to prospective students and their parents.

The college fair, called the HBCU Extravaganza, featured booths from more than a dozen colleges from across the state, but the event also included speakers who talked to visitors about everything from financial aid to the benefits of attending an HBCU.

Dorothy Thompson, who leads Project Enlightenment and is a graduate of N.C. Central, told students that attending an HBCU gives them an opportunity to think, live and work independently.

“When I was in high school, people told us what we could do and what we couldn’t do, not what we could (accomplish),” Thompson said.

Attendance at an HBCU, Thompson said, also helps carry on a strong tradition of minority education.

The college fair was well-received by those who worked it.

Gilberto Alvarado, the Assistant Director of Admissions at Fayetteville State University, said the event was remarkably well attended.

“For a nighttime event, you very rarely see that many people because you’re asking them to take time away from other things they want to do,” Alvarado said.

He credited the strong programming with helping bring students out, but he also said having a fair that focused specifically on HBCUs was also a draw.

“Since it was an HBCU fair you don’t have all the big schools that so often grab everyone’s attention,” Alvarado said.

Jasmin Collins agreed. She’s an admissions counselor at Bennett College For Women in Greensboro.

Collins spends most of her time recruiting students from New England. She’s found herself battling for students’ attention against heavy hitters like Boston College and Harvard.

“It’s great they can see the HBCUs. At larger fairs a lot of the focus can be on the larger schools,” Collins said.

Collins said college fairs like the one sponsored by the Eastern Regional Center are a good way to meet students who are unsure about their plans after high school as well as students who have already made a decision to attend Bennett.

“Sometimes you have parents who are really excited and you think maybe they are the ones getting ready to go to college,” Collins said.

While parents are an important part of the equation, Collins said the college fairs are focused more on the student.

“We want to let them know what’s available and how attending our school can help them,” Collins said.

Judging by the attendance, there was plenty of that kind of advice being distributed.