Top 10 Most Influential HBCUs Ranked by Academic Influence

Last Updated on January 22, 2024

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

HBCUs are hot. America's Historically Black Colleges & Universities are attracting more students and generating more press attention—and deservedly so.

Historically Black Colleges & Universities are schools of higher learning largely established between the end of slavery in 1865 and the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act in order to create opportunities in higher education for Black students. At a time when southern colleges refused their admission and quotas at northern colleges dictated the number of Black students admitted, HBCUs emerged to advance educational, professional, and economic interests for Black Americans.

For 2021, AcademicInfluence.com announces the 30 elite HBCUs that have proven most influential over the past two decades:

What are the top 30 Historically Black Colleges & Universities overall? To see the full list visit Academic Influence's post: https://academicinfluence.com/rankings/schools/most-influential-hbcus

Baseline criteria for this ranking include four-year undergraduate degree offerings and full accreditation. Visit the link above for the final ranking order, details about each school, and lists of alumni from each school who influence our world today.

“For many students, HBCUs have established themselves as their preferred educational destination. Students today want more than a degree—they want a college experience that meets their personal needs. And more are finding what they want in an HBCU,” says Dr. Jed Macosko, academic director of AcademicInfluence.com and professor of physics at Wake Forest University.

HBCUs remain a critical source of education, community, and opportunity for Black students as well as a diverse cross-section of Latino, Asian, and white students. According to the latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics, 51 public HBCUs and 50 private, nonprofit HBCUs provide degrees at every level of higher education. At the time of writing, 38 HBCUs offered associate degree programs, 83 offered bachelor's degrees, 52 conferred master's degrees, and 27 granted doctoral degrees.

Why do AcademicInfluence.com rankings stand out from all other ranking sites? The answer is found in the proprietary InfluenceRanking Engine—innovative machine-learning technology that scours the web's leading data repositories to map and objectively measure the influence of a school's thought leadership through its students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Finally, students can access a superior, trustworthy ranking resource that generates unbiased rankings that resist manipulation. See the AcademicInfluence.com About page for further details on the unique capabilities and advantages of this ranking technology.

“Students concerned about bias and gamesmanship in college rankings can find a more accurate assessment of scholarly impact with AcademicInfluence.com. Our rankings are based primarily on objective influence data rather than on some unknown person's subjective feelings about a college or university or on self-reported info that can be skewed or obsolete,” says Macosko. “It's why we believe students can trust AcademicInfluence.com over the alternatives.”

AcademicInfluence.com is the preeminent technology-driven rankings site dedicated to students, researchers, and inquirers from high school through college and beyond, offering resources that connect learners to leaders. AcademicInfluence.com is a part of the EducationAccess group, a family of sites dedicated to lifelong learning and personal growth.

SOURCE: Academic Influence