U.S. News has recently announced its annual rankings of nation’s best colleges and universities. Like always, among other ranking list, the magazine has included a list of best Historically Black Colleges and Universities. To qualify for the U.S. News HBCU rankings 2015, an HBCU must be an undergraduate baccalaureate-granting institution that primarily gives admission to first-year, first-time students and must be a school that is a part of Best Colleges rankings 2015. Moreover, a school must be currently classified by the U.S Department of Education as an HBCU.
In total, 80 HBCUs qualified to be included on the list; out of which, 69 were ranked and 11 were unranked. These HBCUs were compared only with each other on the criteria of faculty resources, faculty salary, retention, student selectively, alumni giving, and financial resources.
Unlike 2014 Black College rankings edition, to maintain consistency with the overall Best Colleges rankings, this year the online news provider assigned numerical ranks to the top three quarters of the schools in the HBCU rankings and listed the bottom 25 percent of the institutions in alphabetical order. Whereas, in all the past U.S. News HBCU rankings, the top half were numerically ranked and the bottom 50 percent were listed in alphabetical order.
While, this year the list isn’t much different from the past, there are a few major position shifts. Hampton University which was nowhere to be seen in the top 25 list in 2014 has been ranked fourth this year. Similarly, University of Maryland Eastern Shore has proudly made to the list at twenty third position. Also, Clark Atlanta University has unfortunately dropped its ranking from position ninth to eighteenth.
HBCU Rankings 2015
| RANK | UNIVERSITY | LOCATION | |
| 1 | Spelman College | Atlanta, GA | |
| 2 | Howard University | Washington, DC | |
| 3 | Morehouse College | Atlanta, GA | |
| 4 | Hampton University | Hampton, VA | |
| 5 | Tuskegee University | Tuskegee, AL | |
| 6 | Xavier University of Louisiana | New Orleans, LA | |
| 7 | Fisk University | Nashville, TN | |
| 8 | Florida A&M University | Tallahassee, FL | |
| 9 | Claflin University | Orangeburg, SC | |
| 10 | North Carolina A&T State University | Greensboro, NC | |
| 11 | North Carolina Central University | Durham, NC | |
| 12 | Tougaloo College | Tougaloo, MS | |
| 13 | Delaware State University | Dover, DE | |
| 13 | Dillard University | New Orleans, LA | |
| 15 | Morgan State University | Baltimore, MD | |
| 15 | Winston- | Winston-Salem, NC | |
| 17 | Johnson C. Smith University | Charlotte, NC | |
| 18 | Clark Atlanta University | Atlanta, GA | |
| 19 | Jackson State University | Jackson, MS | |
| 20 | Elizabeth City State University | Elizabeth City, NC | |
| 21 | Lincoln University | Lincoln University, PA | |
| 21 | Tennessee State University | Nashville, TN | |
| 23 | Alabama A&M University | Normal, AL | |
| 23 | University of Maryland Eastern Shore | Princess Anne, MD | |
| 25 | Bennett College | Greensboro, NC | |
| 25 | Bowie State University | Bowie, MD |
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-cX8wMabADhpFr.gif\")
Morehouse College is in Atlanta, GA; Howard University is in Washington, DC.
There needs to be another type of ranking. A ranking which compares HBCUs against institutions that are now doing a great job of getting African-Americans to attend in higher numbers, and they are graudating.
Where does Virginia Union place?
where does Huston-Tillotson University rank?
Looks like the top 25 HBCU’s that will put you in debt
I somewhat agree with your suggestion but I would also publish 3 additional bits of information in this hypothetical ranking:
1. Size of university’s endowment
2. Average Reading and Math Testing Scores of Freshman students
3. Financial background of students
When factoring these statistics into your ranking suggestion, you’ll find that many HBCU’s are performing at a much higher level than you give them credit for.
HBCUs should be ranked according to (1) degrees offered to students that equip students for the workforce (2) the pass rate on licensing examination after graduation and (3) the length of time it takes for the average full time student to graduate
I concur with Ralph. Additionally, my question to US News and World Report is “Was the ranking done based on the schools who reported requested information or some other formula? I believe the ranking should be based on uniformed criteria that lists Research, Teaching Faculty with PhD’s, Endowment, Graduation Rates, Enrollment, etc. I find it hard to believe that Prairie View A&M University and Texas Southern University did not warrant any ranking in the top 25. Both schools have enrollment, research funding and teaching faculty larger than some of the schools listed. I believe the rankings for HBCU’s should be based on the same criteria used for the PWI’s and not all lumped together. It’s no way that a Michigan State is cast with Harvard?