Howard University (HU or simply Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black university (HBCU) in Washington, D.C. It is categorized by the Carnegie Foundation as a research university with higher research activity and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

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From its outset Howard has been nonsectarian and open to people of all sexes and races. Howard offers more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. Howard is classified as a Tier 1 national university (No. 89) and ranks second among HBCUs by U.S. News & World Report Howard is the only HBCU ranked in the top 40 on the Bloomberg Businessweek college rankings.

 

The Princeton Review ranked the school of business first in opportunities for minority students and in the top five for most competitive students. The National Law Journal ranked the law school among the top 25 in the nation for placing graduates at the most successful law firms. Howard has produced four Rhodes Scholars between 1986 and 2017. Between 1998 and 2009, Howard University produced a Marshall Scholar, two Truman Scholars, twenty-two Fulbright Scholars and ten Pickering Fellows. Howard is the most comprehensive HBCU in the nation and produces the most black doctorate recipients of any university.