Top Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically Black colleges or universities, or HBCUs, were typically founded with a mission of providing higher education opportunities to African Americans when segregation often made such opportunities elusive. Many HBCUs were founded soon after the Civil War, but continued racial inequality makes their mission relevant today.

Below are eleven of the top historically Black colleges and universities in the United States. The schools on the list were chosen based on four- and six-year graduation rates, retention rates, and overall academic value. Keep in mind that these criteria favor more selective schools since stronger college applicants are more likely to succeed in college. Also recognize that the selection criteria used here may have little to do with the qualities that would make a college a good match for your own personal, academic, and career interests.

Rather than force the schools into a rather arbitrary ranking, they are listed alphabetically. It would make little sense to directly compare a large public university like North Carolina A & M with a small Christian college like Tougaloo College. That said, in most national publications, Spelman College and Howard University tend to top the rankings.