Howard University

Howard University is a private, federally chartered historically Black research university located in Washington, D.C. Founded in the aftermath of the Civil War, it was established to provide educational opportunities to newly freed African Americans and has since grown into a comprehensive university offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees. Howard includes schools and colleges in fields such as business, law, medicine, engineering, communications, and the arts and sciences. The university is recognized for its role in educating Black professionals in medicine, law, public service, and other fields. Students drawn to Howard University often seek a rigorous academic environment grounded in social justice, public service, and research within a historically Black college and university context.

Howard University was founded on March 2, 1867, in Washington, D.C., in the aftermath of the Civil War. Established with congressional approval and named after General Oliver O. Howard, a Civil War hero and commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau, Howard University was created to educate newly freed African Americans and other students in the liberal arts and sciences. The university began with a small campus and expanded steadily in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, adding professional schools in law, medicine, theology, and education. Over time, Howard University became a leading institution for training Black professionals and scholars. In the twentieth century, it developed significant research resources, including the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center. In recent decades, Howard University has expanded its research capacity, upgraded campus facilities, and strengthened its role as a federally chartered research university.