What are the Largest HBCUs?

The 10 largest historically black colleges account for 33% of HBCU students and are located in seven states throughout the Southeast.

St. Philip's College is the only community college with enough students to make the top 10 HBCUs by enrollment size with nearly 21,500 students in the 2020-21 school year. While its size may be surprising, at least six other community colleges in Texas had far higher enrollment numbers.

Based in San Antonio, the public community college was founded in 1898 and started as an industrial school for girls offering a weekend sewing class. Today, a diverse student body of more than 12,500 attend the community college, which prides itself as being the only school with federal designation as both an HBCU and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Alumni of its occupational and physical therapy assistant programs are top earners for their field of study.

North Carolina A&T in Greensboro has been the largest four-year HBCU by enrollment since 2014. Its student body continued to grow during COVID-19, with over 14,000 students enrolled throughout the 2020-21 school year, according to data from IPEDS.

The public four-year university is fairly accessible for students, with a 61% admissions rate and tuition and fees below $7,000 for in-state students last year. Top majors for salary at North Carolina A&T include industrial engineering, chemical engineering, and teaching, where federal earnings data show recent bachelor's graduates are highly paid for their field of study.

Howard University in Washington, D.C. is the third largest HBCU in the country and has been recognized as a top HBCU in college rankings. It was home to more than 11,000 students in the 2020-21 school year, an 18% enrollment increase from the year before. The private research university was founded in 1867 and is known today for its excellence in STEM. It's also one of the top HBCUs for finance and chemical engineering salaries. The university serves a higher rate of graduate students than other HBCUs on this list, with 3,200 enrolled in 2020-21.

The university is fairly selective, with an admission rate of 32% and tuition and fees just under $29,000 in 2021-22. It serves fewer low-income students than other HBCUs, with 44% of students receiving the Pell Grant. However, this number is still high compared to many predominantly white institutions.

Texas public college Prairie View A&M enrolled over 10,000 students in 2020-21, making it the fourth largest HBCU. It's one of the oldest public colleges in Texas and the first publicly-funded school to educate Black students in the state. Today, PVAMU continues to play an important role in its community by offering an accessible education, especially for low-income students. Two-thirds of its student body are Pell recipients, and the university has an admissions rate of 74%. 

For Texas residents, tuition and fees were $11,299 last year, which is more expensive than many public four-years but below the median for private HBCUs. PVAMU is also one of the top HBCUs for mechanical engineering and chemical engineering salaries.

Florida A&M University, a public school in Tallahassee, is the fifth largest HBCU, with 10,221 students enrolled in the 2020-21 school year. It's been the only public HBCU in Florida since it was founded in 1887. Today the college serves more than 8,000 undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 graduate students. It’s similar in size to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and The University of Tampa. 

FAMU is one of the top HBCUs for financial payoff, with a median alumni salary $3,626 higher than other Black graduates in the state. The university is somewhat selective with an admissions rate of 39% and boasts one of the lowest default rates for HBCUs at 7%. In-state tuition and fees were $5,785 in 2021-22.

NC Central in Durham, North Carolina, serves a student body of 9,000. The university was founded in 1910 and, for a time, was focused on educating Black teachers and principals. It was also the first state-supported liberal arts college for Black students. Today it is part of the University of North Carolina System and home to more than 6,700 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students. The university has a notably low default rate at 8% and an admissions rate of 47%. Tuition and fees for the 2021-22 school year were under $6,644.

With 8,749 students enrolled in the 2020-21 school year, Southern University is the seventh largest HBCU in the country. The public college, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, opened in 1881 to educate Black students in the state. Today it's one of only 11 HBCUs to be recognized as a research university by the Carnegie classification system, alongside schools like Baylor University and the City College of New York.

Southern is fairly selective with an admissions rate of 37%, and nearly one in seven students are Pell recipients, according to data from the Postsecondary Value Commission. Alumni of the university's mechanical engineering, communication disorders, and biology majors are top earners for their field of study. Tuition and fees were just under $10,000 for in-state students, which is a bit higher than the median for public four-year HBCUs.

Fayetteville State is the third North Carolina university to make this list and served more than 8,500 students in the 2020-21 school year. Fayetteville was founded in 1867 and is one of the oldest public colleges in the state.

The university is an accessible option for four-year degrees with an admissions rate of 68%. Tuition and fees were under $5,500 last year for in-state students, and just over half of students are Pell Grant recipients.

Virginia State University was founded in 1882 and opened its doors a year later to its first students. A total of seven Black faculty members served 126 students on a $20,000 budget that year.

In the 2020-21 school year, the university served a student body of 8,654, making it the largest HBCU in Virginia. The public school is highly accessible with an acceptance rate of 91%.The university serves a high rate of students from lower-income families, with 71% of students receiving the Pell Grant. Tuition and fees for Virginia students were just over $9,000 for the 2021-22 school year. 

VSU students from the liberal arts and sciences, general studies, and humanities majors tend to earn more for their field of study than other graduates. Federal earnings data shows computer engineering technicians there also tend to be highly paid for their major.

Tennessee State University in Nashville is home to more than 6,400 undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 master's and doctoral students. Founded in 1912, the university is the only public HBCU in the state. Tuition and fees for in-state students cost $8,336 in the 2021-22 school year. 

Tennessee State's strongest bachelor's programs for alumni salary include biology and social work. Graduates of these majors tend to earn higher salaries than alumni of the same programs from other schools.