The largest historically black college and university (HBCU) in the nation is still the No. 1 public HBCU, according to the U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges 2020” rankings. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical (A&T) State University’s peer score was second among all HBCUs, with only Spelman College ranked higher.

North Carolina A&T’s recognition for excellence in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education has helped the university expand, drawing nearly 25,000 applications for admission this year – a record  6,000-application increase over last year, the university said. More than 12,500 students now call A&T home.

Florida A&M University (FAMU) maintained its ranking as the No. 2 public HBCU and moved up two spots to No. 7 among the top 10 public and private HBCUs in the nation, according to the 2020 U.S. News rankings.

FAMU also placed higher than any other public HBCU on the list of national universities. Among the institutions evaluated, FAMU ranked 45th in social mobility, which reflects the number of Pell Grant recipients who completed their education.

In U.S. News & World Report’s first social mobility ranking, Howard University is one of the top private institutions for “how well schools graduated students who received federal Pell Grants (those typically coming from households whose family incomes are less than $50,000 annually).” Howard ranked overall No. 4 on the U.S. News & World Report social mobility ranking list. The university ranked No. 2 among top HBCUs.

Tuskegee University climbed seven spots to 8th among the nation’s best HBCUs.  In addition to its top ranking, Tuskegee appeared on U.S. News’ designation for schools offering a broad scope of undergraduate degrees, and master’s degree programs.

Tuskegee tied for 12th among southern regional universities in U.S. News’ “Top Performers on Social Mobility” category, highlighting the colleges that are most successful at enrolling and graduating economically disadvantaged students who are less likely than others to finish college.

U.S. News ranked Hampton University as one of the top HBCUs with a Top Undergraduate Engineering Program.

The U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges rankings consider faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources, alumni giving, and graduation rate performance.

For more information, visit best HBCUs of 2019.