Top 50 Colleges for Black Students, 2006

Updated August 5, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

Based on a survey of more than 500 African American higher education professionals, including college and university presidents, chancellors, and directors, Black Enterprise magazine has ranked the top 50 colleges and universities where African-American students are most likely to succeed. The ranking considers factors such as black population (at least 3%), academic strengths, social environment, and graduation rates.

2006 Rank	Name, location	Internet address	Total student population	% black	2003 Rank
1	Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, Fla.	www.famu.edu	11,450	93.7%	6
2	Howard University, Washington, D.C.	www.howard.edu	7,112	84.0	4
3	North Carolina A&T State Univ., Greensboro, N.C.	www.ncat.edu	9,121	92.2	19
4	Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.	www.harvard.edu	9,519	6.7	11
5	Spelman College, Atlanta, Ga.	www.spelman.edu	2,186	94.1	3
6	Hampton University, Hampton, Va.	www.hamptonu.edu	5,315	93.7	2
7	Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif.	www.stanford.edu	6,555	10.6	7
8	Columbia University, New York, N.Y.	www.columbia.edu	7,233	7.1	8
9	University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.	www.upenn.edu	11,958	6.6	23
10	Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn.	www.wesleyan.edu	2,777	6.8	18
11	Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa.	www.dickinson.edu	2,321	3.8	n.a.
12	Wellesley College, Wellesley, Mass.	www.wellesley.edu	2,289	5.9	26
13	Amherst College, Amherst, Mass.	www.amherst.edu	1,640	9.0	30
14	Duke University, Durham, N.C.	www.duke.edu	6,301	10.8	12
15	Smith College, Northampton, Mass.	www.smith.edu	2,692	5.7	n.a.
16	Barnard College, New York, N.Y.	www.barnard.edu	2,287	4.9	n.a.
17	Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tenn.	www.tnstate.edu	7,257	81.2	44
18	Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga.	www.gsu.edu	19,889	34.0	n.a.
19	Brown University, Providence, R.I.	www.brown.edu	6,014	6.4	42
20	Yale University, New Haven, Conn.	www.yale.edu	5,319	7.8	40
21	Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.	www.georgetown.edu	6,522	6.5	9
22	Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, N.C.	www.wfu.edu	4,128	6.0	31
23	Babson College, Wellesley, Mass.	www.babson.edu	1,697	3.3	n.a.
24	Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.	www.williams.edu	1,991	9.6	14
25	Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla.	www.fsu.edu	30,373	12.8	34
26	Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.	www.cornell.edu	13,628	4.7	25
27	Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, Tex.	www.pvamu.edu	6,324	91.6	n.a.
28	Jackson State University, Jackson, Miss.	www.jsums.edu	6,605	96.7	n.a.
29	Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio	www.oberlin.edu	2,837	6.2	16
30	North Carolina Central University, Durham, N.C.	www.nccu.edu	6,028	86.6	n.a.
31	Mills College, Oakland, Calif.	www.mills.edu	762	9.2	n.a.
32	University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C.	www.unc.edu	16,525	10.9	15
33	Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa	www.grinnell.edu	1,556	4.2	n.a.
34	Morgan State University, Baltimore, Md.	www.morgan.edu	6,243	92.6	35
35	University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va.	www.virginia.edu	14,129	8.4	n.a.
36	Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, Mass.	www.mtholyoke.edu	2,143	4.1	25
29	Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.	www.emory.edu	6,346	9.2	17
38	Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.	www.princeton.edu	4,678	8.2	n.a.
39	Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, Pa.	www.swarthmore.edu	1,474	6.5	33
40	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.	www.umich.edu	24,828	7.6	27
41	Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa.	www.temple.edu	23,429	19.9	41
42	Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.	wustl.edu	7,350	9.4	n.a.
43	Davidson College, Davidson, N.C.	www.davidson.edu	1,714	6.2	n.a.
44	Simmons College, Boston, Mass.	www.simmons.edu	1,874	6.5	n.a.
45	Morehouse College, Atlanta, Ga.	www.morehouse.edu	2,891	94.5	1
46	Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.	www.jhu.edu	5,710	8.3	38
47	Dartmouth University, Hanover, N.H.	www.dartmouth.edu	4,079	6.7	n.a.
48	Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.	www.vassar.cookman.edu	2,475	5.2	39
49	Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill.	www.northwestern.edu	9,115	5.5	n.a.
50	University of Maryland, College Park, Md.	www.umd.edu	25,140	12.1	20