Historically black colleges and universities
Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving African Americans. Most of these institutions were founded during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and are concentrated in the Southern United States. They were primarily founded by Protestant religious groups, until the Second Morill Act of 1890 required educationally segregated states to provide African American, public higher-education schools in order to receive the Act's benefits.
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1837 as the Institute for Colored Youth, making it the oldest HBCU in the nation
President George H. W. Bush signs a new Executive Order on historically black colleges and universities in the White House Rose Garden, April 1989
North Carolina A&T State University is the nation's largest HBCU by enrollment.
Vice President and HBCU alumna Kamala Harris with students attending HBCUs
Higher education in the United States
In the United States, higher education is an optional stage of formal learning following secondary education. It is also referred to as post-secondary education, third-stage, third-level, or tertiary education. It covers stages 5 to 8 on the International ISCED 2011 scale. It is delivered at 3,931 TitleĀ IV degree-granting institutions, known as colleges or universities. These may be public or private universities, research universities, liberal arts colleges, community colleges, or for-profit colleges. U.S. higher education is loosely regulated by the government and by several third-party organizations.
Swarthmore College, one of the oldest coeducational colleges in the United States, is often considered a Little Ivy.
The Wren Building at the College of William & Mary is the oldest academic building in the United States, dating back to 1695. The school held African slaves and their descendants for 170 years.
The Main Building at the University of Notre Dame, a prominent Catholic university in the United States
An open domed room anchors the Ohio University atop the hillside, where the Hocking River had cut.