Historically Black Schools, Colleges, and Universities

The Historically black colleges and universities in the United States are as rich in history as they are in academics.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 defined the HBCU's as any historically black college that was both established before 1964 and whose primary purpose was to educate African Americans.

There are currently 105 recognized institutions across the country. The most historically prominent of them being Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Wilberforce University in Ohio, which were both established as higher education institutions for African Americans prior to the Civil War in 1854 and 1856, respectively.

Although the HBCUs certainly don't segregate African American education anymore (some HBCU's today have non-black majority student bodies), they still serve as an important piece of history in the US relating to the availability of higher educational opportunity.

Below is the list of the 98 historically Black schools, colleges, and universities in the United States. In our directory, 27 of HBCU universities offer doctoral programs and 52 schools provide Master's programs, while 83 colleges allow you to obtain your Bachelor's degree and 38 schools offer associate degrees.