Glossary HBCU
HBCU
Acronym Also known as:
historically black college or university, historically black colleges and universities, hbcusEducationHBCU
Definition
Historically Black College or University: in law, a college or university established before 1964 whose principal mission was, and is, the education of Black Americans, and that is accredited (or making reasonable progress toward it)
The definition is in the Higher Education Act of 1965, 20 U.S.C. § 1061(2). NCES counted 99 HBCUs in 2022, 50 public and 49 private nonprofit, across 19 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Other counts run to about 100–107, depending on method.
In this registry: Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College, Albany State University and Florida A&M University. CodeHouse builds a pipeline from HBCUs into technology careers.