Clark Atlanta University

Clark Atlanta University is a private, historically Black research university located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and is part of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities in the United States. Formed in 1988 through the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, the institution traces its origins to 1865. Clark Atlanta University offers undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs across arts and sciences, business, education, and social work. It attracts students interested in a historically Black academic environment, urban research opportunities, and programs connected to social justice, public service, and community engagement.

Clark Atlanta University traces its origins to September 19, 1865, when Atlanta University was founded in Atlanta, Georgia, shortly after the Civil War to educate newly freed African Americans. Edmund Asa Ware was appointed the first president and helped establish the institution as one of the first in the South to award degrees to Black students. In 1869, Clark College was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church as a four-year liberal arts college serving African American students. For more than a century, Atlanta University and Clark College developed parallel academic traditions within the Atlanta University Center. In 1988, the two institutions consolidated to form Clark Atlanta University, combining Atlanta University’s graduate education legacy with Clark College’s undergraduate focus. Since the merger, Clark Atlanta University has expanded research initiatives, strengthened professional programs, and continued its mission of providing higher education in the urban center of Atlanta.