CRUSH HBCU 2026–27 104 SCHOOLS. 104 POSITIVE HEADLINES. ONE HBCU FAMILY. Tuskegee is kicking off the first soccer season in school history. Alabama A&M is entering the AI degree race.

CRUSH HBCU 2026–27

104 SCHOOLS. 104 POSITIVE HEADLINES. ONE HBCU FAMILY.

Tuskegee is kicking off the first soccer season in school history. Alabama A&M is entering the AI degree race. Morehouse enters another year with historic demand. Across America, every HBCU has something worth watching.

By CRUSH Magazine

There is no such thing as one HBCU story.

There are 107 federally identified Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the historical federal universe.

Three are closed.

That leaves 104 institutions whose names remain part of the living HBCU landscape entering the 2026–27 academic year.

Some are major research universities.

Some are liberal arts colleges.

Some are community colleges.

Some educate doctors.

Some train engineers.

Some produce teachers.

Some specialize in agriculture.

Some prepare ministers.

Some dominate athletics.

Some serve communities rarely covered by national media.

Some are growing.

Some are rebuilding.

Some are reinventing themselves.

And every one deserves to be seen as more than a name on a list.

So CRUSH Magazine is starting with one simple assignment:

Find something worth celebrating about every HBCU.

Not rankings.

Not a popularity contest.

Not an argument over who has the best Homecoming.

One positive headline.

One reason to watch.

One institution at a time.

Welcome to the CRUSH HBCU 2026–27 State of the Schools.

THE LEAD STORY

TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY — ALABAMA

⚽ THE FIRST KICK: TUSKEGEE SOCCER BEGINS IN 2026

Of all the new chapters beginning across HBCU America this school year, few are as literal as Tuskegee’s.

Men’s soccer.

Women’s soccer.

For the first time.

The Golden Tigers are launching both programs in 2026, creating the first goals, first assists, first saves, first captains and first record books in Tuskegee soccer history.

At an institution founded in 1881, the newest tradition starts now.

CRUSH WATCH: The inaugural season, the first stars, recruiting, Abbott Stadium and the long-term opportunity for Tuskegee to connect its historic brand to the world’s most global sport.

ALABAMA

ALABAMA A&M UNIVERSITY

🤖 AAMU TAKES HBCU TECH INTO THE AI AGE

Alabama A&M enters Fall 2026 preparing the first students for its new Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence—the first degree of its kind announced by an Alabama institution.

Engineering, technology, research and workforce development already fit the Bulldog identity.

Now AI becomes part of it.

CRUSH WATCH: Artificial intelligence, engineering, robotics, cybersecurity, research and the next generation of Black technology talent.

ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY

🐝 THE HORNETS KEEP CONNECTING EDUCATION TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Alabama State continues expanding the idea of what an HBCU can mean to Montgomery and the wider state: education, workforce development, entrepreneurship, athletics, culture and community impact.

CRUSH WATCH: Business partnerships, health sciences, athletics, the Mighty Marching Hornets and ASU’s role inside one of the most historically important cities in Black America.

BISHOP STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

🛠️ MOBILE’S HBCU WORKFORCE PIPELINE MATTERS MORE THAN EVER

Bishop State occupies an important lane in the HBCU ecosystem: practical education tied directly to careers.

In a Gulf Coast economy built around manufacturing, maritime activity, healthcare, construction and skilled trades, that mission carries immediate value.

CRUSH WATCH: Workforce credentials, technical education, advanced manufacturing and career pathways across Mobile.

GADSDEN STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE — VALLEY STREET CAMPUS

🎓 THE VALLEY STREET LEGACY KEEPS OPENING DOORS

The historic Valley Street campus represents an important part of Alabama’s Black educational legacy while operating within the larger Gadsden State system.

CRUSH WATCH: Affordable access, career education, transfer opportunities and preservation of the Valley Street HBCU tradition.

J.F. DRAKE STATE COMMUNITY & TECHNICAL COLLEGE

🚀 DRAKE STATE SITS IN ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST IMPORTANT TECH CITIES

Location matters.

Drake State is an HBCU technical institution in Huntsville—home to an extraordinary concentration of aerospace, defense, engineering and technology activity.

That creates enormous potential for students entering technical careers.

CRUSH WATCH: Aerospace, advanced manufacturing, engineering technology, apprenticeships and Huntsville’s growing innovation economy.

LAWSON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

🔧 LAWSON STATE MAKES CAREER READINESS THE PRODUCT

Birmingham needs skilled workers.

Lawson State helps produce them.

Its value lies in connecting students to technical education, transferable college credit and careers without requiring everybody to travel the same four-year path.

CRUSH WATCH: Automotive technology, healthcare, skilled trades, workforce partnerships and upward mobility.

MILES COLLEGE

🟣 MILES CONTINUES BUILDING ITS PLACE IN BIRMINGHAM’S NEXT CHAPTER

Miles combines a historic liberal-arts mission with access to one of Alabama’s largest economic and cultural markets.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment growth, athletics, business, communications, teacher education and stronger connections throughout metropolitan Birmingham.

OAKWOOD UNIVERSITY

🌱 OAKWOOD’S HEALTH-AND-SERVICE IDENTITY REMAINS ITS SUPERPOWER

Oakwood occupies a distinctive position as both an HBCU and a Seventh-day Adventist institution.

Its emphasis on health, faith, service, music and science gives it an identity unlike virtually any other school on this list.

CRUSH WATCH: Health sciences, nutrition, STEM, music and global service.

SELMA UNIVERSITY

✊ SELMA’S HBCU STILL STANDS INSIDE CIVIL-RIGHTS HISTORY

Few schools occupy geography with greater symbolic weight.

Selma University’s continued presence keeps higher education connected to a city whose name belongs permanently to American civil-rights history.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional strengthening, faith-based education, community engagement and preserving Black higher education in Selma.

SHELTON STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE — C.A. FREDD CAMPUS

📚 THE C.A. FREDD LEGACY KEEPS ACCESS AT THE CENTER

The historically Black C.A. Fredd campus gives Shelton State an HBCU heritage connected to affordability and workforce education.

CRUSH WATCH: Career pathways, transfer opportunities and Tuscaloosa-area workforce development.

STILLMAN COLLEGE

🐅 STILLMAN’S SMALL-COLLEGE ADVANTAGE DESERVES A BIGGER LOOK

Stillman brings private HBCU tradition into Tuscaloosa, a market dominated publicly by one enormous university.

Its opportunity is precisely in being different: intimate, historically Black and community-centered.

CRUSH WATCH: Athletics, teacher preparation, business, arts and institutional growth.

TALLADEGA COLLEGE

🏈 FOOTBALL ENERGY RETURNS TO TALLADEGA

Talladega entered 2026 with renewed football energy through a partnership bringing club football competition and select games back to campus after generations without the sport.

For an institution whose football history reaches back more than a century, even hearing football on campus again carries nostalgia.

CRUSH WATCH: Campus life, athletics, enrollment momentum and the possibility of new traditions built from very old roots.

H. COUNCILL TRENHOLM STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

🛠️ TRENHOLM STATE KEEPS MONTGOMERY’S WORKFORCE MOVING

Trenholm State represents the career-and-technical side of HBCU America.

That mission becomes increasingly important as employers compete for people who can actually build, repair, operate, program and maintain the modern economy.

CRUSH WATCH: Skilled trades, automotive programs, healthcare, workforce credentials and adult education.

ARKANSAS

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS AT PINE BLUFF

🦁 UAPB REMAINS ARKANSAS’ LAND-GRANT HBCU POWERHOUSE

Agriculture sits at the heart of UAPB’s historic mission, but the Golden Lions’ story extends through research, fisheries, STEM, business, education and Division I athletics.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture innovation, aquaculture, research, SWAC athletics and rural economic development.

ARKANSAS BAPTIST COLLEGE

🦬 ARKANSAS BAPTIST KEEPS SECOND CHANCES INSIDE THE HBCU MISSION

Little Rock’s Arkansas Baptist College has long represented access and opportunity.

That matters in an era when higher education needs multiple routes rather than one definition of the traditional college student.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional rebuilding, student opportunity, athletics and community connections.

PHILANDER SMITH UNIVERSITY

🐾 PHILANDER SMITH ENTERS ITS UNIVERSITY ERA WITH MOMENTUM

The transition from Philander Smith College to Philander Smith University signaled ambition beyond a name change.

The Little Rock institution enters the new school year carrying its social-justice legacy into a broader university identity.

CRUSH WATCH: Social justice, business, health, graduate education and institutional growth.

SHORTER COLLEGE

📈 SHORTER KEEPS THE TWO-YEAR HBCU MODEL ALIVE

Two-year HBCUs are a critical but undercovered part of Black higher education.

Shorter’s mission centers affordability, access and career mobility.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, workforce credentials, transfer pathways and opportunities for nontraditional students.

DELAWARE

DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY

🐝 DELAWARE STATE KEEPS GROWING BEYOND THE SIZE PEOPLE EXPECT FROM DELAWARE

Delaware State has evolved into a comprehensive public university with ambitions extending through research, aviation, agriculture, business and graduate education.

CRUSH WATCH: Aviation, research expansion, agriculture, acquisition-driven growth and MEAC athletics.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

🔬 HOWARD’S R1 STATUS CHANGES THE HBCU RESEARCH CONVERSATION

Howard’s place among America’s highest-research universities demonstrates what an HBCU can become when major research, medicine, law, culture and graduate education coexist inside one institution.

The challenge now is bigger than Howard:

making sure it isn’t the last HBCU to reach that level.

CRUSH WATCH: Research, Howard University Hospital, AI, engineering, medicine, media, law and the global Howard network.

UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

🏙️ UDC IS THE PUBLIC HBCU BUILT DIRECTLY INTO THE NATION’S CAPITAL

UDC has one of the most unusual positions in higher education: public, urban, historically Black and embedded directly inside Washington.

CRUSH WATCH: Law, urban agriculture, workforce programs, community-college pathways and serving D.C. residents across multiple stages of life.

FLORIDA

BETHUNE-COOKMAN UNIVERSITY

🐾 MARY McLEOD BETHUNE’S UNIVERSITY KEEPS BUILDING FOR ANOTHER GENERATION

Bethune-Cookman’s story begins with one of the towering institution-builders in Black American history.

The opportunity now is to convert that legacy into contemporary strength.

CRUSH WATCH: Athletics, hospitality, business, STEM, Daytona culture and institutional growth.

EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY

🐅 JACKSONVILLE’S HBCU IS GROWING WITH THE CITY

Edward Waters occupies increasingly valuable territory culturally and economically as Jacksonville grows.

Its transition to university status and expanding athletics have already raised the institution’s profile.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, graduate programs, Division II athletics, business, communications and Jacksonville partnerships.

FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY

🐍 FAMU REMAINS ONE OF THE BIGGEST BRANDS IN HBCU AMERICA

The Marching 100.

The Rattlers.

STEM.

Pharmacy.

Agriculture.

Journalism.

Athletics.

Homecoming.

FAMU enters every school year with a rare advantage: an HBCU identity recognizable well beyond its campus.

The next challenge is converting brand power into even greater academic, research and economic power.

CRUSH WATCH: Research, student success, SWAC competition, baseball visibility, the Marching 100 and Rattler entrepreneurship.

FLORIDA MEMORIAL UNIVERSITY

🦁 SOUTH FLORIDA’S ONLY HBCU HAS A MARKET ALL TO ITSELF

Miami is global.

Florida Memorial is the HBCU inside that global market.

That creates opportunities in business, aviation, technology, hospitality, entertainment and the international economy that few HBCUs can replicate geographically.

CRUSH WATCH: Aviation, business, Miami culture, student entrepreneurship and stronger integration into South Florida’s economy.

GEORGIA

ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY

🐏 ALBANY STATE ENTERS 2026–27 WITH ACADEMIC AND ATHLETIC PRIDE

More than 1,300 Albany State undergraduates were recognized in 2026 for GPAs of at least 3.5, while Golden Ram athletics continues carrying championship expectations.

CRUSH WATCH: Student achievement, SIAC athletics, health sciences and ASU’s importance throughout southwest Georgia.

CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY

🐾 CAU SITS AT THE CROSSROADS OF HBCU CULTURE AND BLACK ATLANTA

There may be no more naturally CRUSH intersection.

Business.

Media.

Music.

Sports.

Fashion.

Technology.

Film.

Nightlife.

Entrepreneurship.

And the Atlanta University Center.

CAU students are learning in the middle of an economy that can become part of their education.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, mass media, entrepreneurship, athletics and direct pipelines into Atlanta industries.

FORT VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY

🐾 FORT VALLEY KEEPS GEORGIA’S BLACK LAND-GRANT TRADITION MOVING

Agriculture remains one of America’s most important industries, and Fort Valley State carries a land-grant mission directly into food science, animal science, biotechnology and rural communities.

CRUSH WATCH: Agricultural innovation, research, STEM, cooperative extension and Wildcat athletics.

INTERDENOMINATIONAL THEOLOGICAL CENTER

⛪ ATLANTA’S BLACK THEOLOGICAL TRADITION STILL HAS A HOME

ITC represents a different part of HBCU history: graduate theological education and the institutions that helped develop generations of Black religious leadership.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional renewal, theological education and how ministry evolves for a new generation.

MOREHOUSE COLLEGE

🎓 DEMAND FOR MOREHOUSE HAS BECOME PART OF THE STORY

Morehouse entered the current era with record application demand and a top-three position in the 2026 U.S. News HBCU rankings.

Its 2026–27 opportunity is to keep modernizing without losing the institution’s most valuable asset:

the meaning attached to becoming a Morehouse Man.

CRUSH WATCH: Leadership, business, technology, the Campus of the Future, alumni power and the next generation of Black men entering the House.

MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

🩺 MOREHOUSE MEDICINE KEEPS HEALTH EQUITY AT THE CENTER

Few institutions have a mission more directly connected to one of America’s persistent challenges: improving health outcomes in underserved communities.

CRUSH WATCH: Medical education, biomedical research, community health, health equity and training the next generation of physicians.

MORRIS BROWN COLLEGE

🐺 THE COMEBACK IS NO LONGER JUST A COMEBACK

Morris Brown survived the kind of institutional crisis that ends most colleges.

It returned.

Regained accreditation.

Reopened its story.

Now the conversation can move from resurrection to growth.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, fundraising, campus redevelopment, hospitality education and turning survival into sustainability.

PAINE COLLEGE

🦁 PAINE’S AUGUSTA LEGACY DESERVES RENEWED ATTENTION

Paine represents more than a small private institution.

It represents a piece of Augusta’s Black educational history that deserves a sustainable future.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional rebuilding, alumni support, health sciences and stronger integration into Augusta’s growing economy.

SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY

🐅 SAVANNAH STATE IS THE HBCU AT THE CENTER OF COASTAL GEORGIA CULTURE

Savannah State occupies a position no other university can duplicate.

Savannah.

The coast.

Gullah Geechee country.

Marine sciences.

Black history.

Tourism.

Ports.

Orange Crush history.

And generations of Tigers.

CRUSH WATCH: Marine sciences, business, athletics, coastal research, entrepreneurship and Savannah State receiving greater credit for its cultural footprint.

SPELMAN COLLEGE

💙 SPELMAN KEEPS DEFINING EXCELLENCE FOR BLACK WOMEN

Prestige is not something Spelman has to manufacture.

Its task is building on it.

The college’s strength in liberal arts, STEM, arts, leadership and an extraordinary alumnae network gives Spelman disproportionate influence for its size.

CRUSH WATCH: STEM, arts, entrepreneurship, global education and women building institutions of their own.

KENTUCKY

KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY

🟢 KENTUCKY STATE’S LAND-GRANT MISSION HAS ROOM TO GROW

Kentucky State brings agriculture, aquaculture, research and public-service education into the center of the Commonwealth.

CRUSH WATCH: Aquaculture, agriculture, STEM, public service and institutional stability.

SIMMONS COLLEGE OF KENTUCKY

🔥 SIMMONS KEEPS LOUISVILLE’S BLACK INSTITUTIONAL LEGACY ALIVE

Simmons has survived multiple eras and reinventions.

Its renewed HBCU identity gives Louisville an institution explicitly centered in Black educational history.

CRUSH WATCH: Community partnerships, ministry, workforce programs and long-term institutional growth.

LOUISIANA

DILLARD UNIVERSITY

💙 DILLARD BRINGS LIBERAL-ARTS PRESTIGE INTO NEW ORLEANS

Dillard combines intimate private education with one of America’s most culturally influential cities.

CRUSH WATCH: Nursing, public health, arts, business and leveraging New Orleans as a living classroom.

GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY

🐯 GRAMBLING’S NAME STILL TRAVELS

Few HBCUs built global recognition through athletics and band culture like Grambling.

The opportunity now is to make sure the academic and entrepreneurial story travels just as far.

CRUSH WATCH: Football, the World Famed Tiger Marching Band, cybersecurity, business and alumni engagement.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE

🐆 SOUTHERN’S SYSTEM SCALE IS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Southern is more than one campus.

It sits at the center of the country’s only HBCU system of its kind.

That creates possibilities across education, law, research, workforce development and public service.

CRUSH WATCH: Research, engineering, agriculture, the Human Jukebox, SWAC athletics and systemwide collaboration.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AT NEW ORLEANS

🌆 SUNO’S MISSION IS TIED DIRECTLY TO NEW ORLEANS’ FUTURE

SUNO exists inside a city where healthcare, education, public service, tourism and culture constantly intersect.

CRUSH WATCH: Social work, public administration, business, community development and enrollment growth.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AT SHREVEPORT

🛠️ SUSLA MAKES HBCU ACCESS PRACTICAL

Two-year HBCUs often perform some of higher education’s least glamorous but most important work.

SUSLA connects students to careers, transfer opportunities and local employers.

CRUSH WATCH: Allied health, aviation, technical education and workforce development.

SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER

⚖️ SULC KEEPS PRODUCING LAWYERS WITH A PUBLIC-SERVICE MISSION

Legal education becomes particularly meaningful at an institution born from unequal access to the legal profession.

CRUSH WATCH: Advocacy, public-interest law, technology and expanding access to the profession.

XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

💊 XAVIER REMAINS A PIPELINE INTO MEDICINE AND SCIENCE

Xavier’s longstanding reputation for preparing Black students for medical and health-science careers remains one of the strongest academic identities in HBCU America.

CRUSH WATCH: Pharmacy, pre-medical education, biomedical science, research and health innovation.

MARYLAND

BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY

💻 BOWIE STATE IS POSITIONED FOR THE DIGITAL ECONOMY

Maryland’s oldest HBCU sits in one of America’s richest technology, government and cybersecurity corridors.

CRUSH WATCH: Cybersecurity, computer science, entrepreneurship, media and CIAA athletics.

COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY

🦅 COPPIN’S BALTIMORE MISSION IS ITS ADVANTAGE

Coppin is inseparable from Baltimore.

That gives its work in nursing, education, health, community development and urban opportunity direct relevance.

CRUSH WATCH: Healthcare, teacher education, community engagement and student access.

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE

🦅 UMES BRINGS SCIENCE TO THE EASTERN SHORE

Agriculture, pharmacy, aviation, hospitality and STEM give UMES one of the more diverse applied-academic portfolios in the HBCU landscape.

CRUSH WATCH: Aviation, pharmacy, agriculture, hospitality and research.

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

🐻 MORGAN IS BUILDING LIKE A MAJOR RESEARCH UNIVERSITY

Morgan increasingly belongs in conversations extending beyond traditional HBCU categories.

Research capacity.

Engineering.

Architecture.

Transportation.

Graduate education.

Baltimore development.

The Bears are making the case for another HBCU reaching America’s highest research tier.

CRUSH WATCH: R1 ambitions, engineering, infrastructure research, architecture and innovation.

MISSISSIPPI

ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY

💜 ALCORN CONNECTS ITS LAND-GRANT LEGACY TO ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Agriculture built part of Alcorn’s historic identity.

Innovation and entrepreneurship can extend it.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, food systems, research, entrepreneurship and SWAC athletics.

COAHOMA COMMUNITY COLLEGE

🐅 COAHOMA KEEPS THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA CONNECTED TO OPPORTUNITY

The Delta needs institutions rooted in the Delta.

Coahoma’s workforce and transfer mission makes it an economic-development institution as much as a college.

CRUSH WATCH: Skilled trades, healthcare, workforce credentials and regional mobility.

HINDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE — UTICA

🎓 UTICA’S HBCU HERITAGE CONTINUES INSIDE A LARGER COLLEGE SYSTEM

The historic Utica campus preserves a lineage of Black education extending more than a century.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, technical education, student access and preservation of Utica’s unique identity.

JACKSON STATE UNIVERSITY

🐅 JSU HAS PROVEN HBCU ATTENTION CAN SCALE NATIONALLY

Jackson State’s recent era demonstrated how athletics, media, band culture and institutional branding can pull massive national attention toward an HBCU.

The next opportunity is converting visibility into durable institutional value.

CRUSH WATCH: Research, SWAC athletics, the Sonic Boom, enrollment and brand partnerships.

MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY

💚 THE VALLEY’S CULTURAL LEGACY IS BIGGER THAN ITS ENROLLMENT

MVSU has produced outsized figures in sports and culture for an institution of its size.

That history gives the Delta Devils a story worth reintroducing to younger audiences.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional strengthening, athletics, communications and preserving Delta cultural history.

RUST COLLEGE

🐻 ONE OF MISSISSIPPI’S OLDEST HBCUs KEEPS MOVING FORWARD

Rust’s longevity is itself an institutional achievement.

The opportunity entering 2026–27 is turning historic roots into renewed enrollment, alumni participation and academic visibility.

CRUSH WATCH: STEM, teacher education, alumni engagement and institutional growth.

TOUGALOO COLLEGE

✊ TOUGALOO’S CIVIL-RIGHTS DNA STILL MATTERS

Tougaloo occupies a special place where academic excellence and movement history meet.

That heritage makes the college especially relevant to conversations about democracy, leadership and public service.

CRUSH WATCH: Pre-med pathways, social justice, humanities, research and civic leadership.

MISSOURI

HARRIS-STOWE STATE UNIVERSITY

🐝 HARRIS-STOWE PUTS AN HBCU IN THE HEART OF ST. LOUIS

Urban location becomes powerful when education connects directly to the surrounding economy.

CRUSH WATCH: Education, business, STEM, entrepreneurship and partnerships across St. Louis.

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

🐯 LINCOLN’S HISTORY BEGAN WITH BLACK SOLDIERS—ITS FUTURE IS STILL BEING WRITTEN

Founded by veterans of the Civil War, Lincoln carries one of the most extraordinary origin stories in American higher education.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, nursing, public service, research and Missouri’s Black educational legacy.

NORTH CAROLINA

BARBER-SCOTIA COLLEGE

🕊️ THE BARBER-SCOTIA NAME STILL CARRIES HISTORY

The Hundred-Seven currently flags Barber-Scotia as not accredited.

That makes the positive story here one of preservation and possibility rather than pretending the institution’s challenges do not exist.

CRUSH WATCH: Restoration efforts, alumni stewardship and whether one of America’s historic HBCU names can build a sustainable institutional future.

BENNETT COLLEGE

💙 BENNETT KEEPS BLACK WOMEN AT THE CENTER

One of only two HBCUs dedicated specifically to women, Bennett occupies a rare and culturally important space.

CRUSH WATCH: Women’s leadership, entrepreneurship, communications, social justice and the power of the Bennett Belle network.

ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY

💰 A MASSIVE GIFT PUTS ECSU’S FUTURE IN A DIFFERENT POSITION

A $42 million gift announced in 2026 gives Elizabeth City State extraordinary philanthropic momentum relative to its size.

Unrestricted capital can change possibilities across scholarships, academic programs and institutional investment.

CRUSH WATCH: Aviation, STEM, affordability and how ECSU deploys transformational philanthropy.

FAYETTEVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY

🐴 FAYETTEVILLE STATE HAS A BUILT-IN CONNECTION TO MILITARY AMERICA

Its proximity and ties to Fort Bragg create a distinctive lane around veterans, military families, cybersecurity, logistics and adult learners.

CRUSH WATCH: Military partnerships, online education, business, cybersecurity and Bronco athletics.

JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY

🟡 JCSU IS GROWING WITH CHARLOTTE

Charlotte has become one of America’s major banking, sports and business cities.

JCSU sits inside it.

That geographic relationship should become an increasingly important institutional asset.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, data science, athletics, entrepreneurship and partnerships across Charlotte.

LIVINGSTONE COLLEGE

💙 LIVINGSTONE KEEPS SALISBURY’S HBCU TRADITION ALIVE

Livingstone represents the kind of smaller HBCU whose value is easiest to understand at the community level.

CRUSH WATCH: Athletics, business, education and alumni-driven institutional growth.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY

💙 AGGIE PRIDE ENTERS ANOTHER BIG YEAR

America’s largest and one of its most academically formidable HBCUs remains a powerhouse in engineering, agriculture, research, entrepreneurship and alumni culture.

Recognition as a leading public HBCU only reinforces what Aggies already believe.

CRUSH WATCH: Engineering, research growth, the 100th Homecoming tradition, entrepreneurship and athletics.

NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

🦅 NCCU COMBINES HBCU TRADITION WITH THE RESEARCH TRIANGLE

Durham puts NCCU near one of America’s great university, healthcare and technology economies.

Then add a law school, business, sciences and championship athletic tradition.

CRUSH WATCH: Law, biomedical sciences, technology, entrepreneurship and MEAC athletics.

SHAW UNIVERSITY

🐻 THE SOUTH’S OLDEST HBCU KEEPS A PLACE IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH

Shaw’s physical location and history give it enormous cultural value.

CRUSH WATCH: Campus redevelopment, entrepreneurship, health-related programs and preserving the institution’s place inside rapidly changing Raleigh.

SAINT AUGUSTINE’S UNIVERSITY

🐦 THE FALCON STORY IS ABOUT THE FIGHT TO CONTINUE

Saint Augustine’s has faced serious institutional and accreditation challenges.

A positive headline should not erase them.

The story worth following is the effort by alumni, students and institutional supporters to preserve an HBCU with more than 150 years of history.

CRUSH WATCH: Accreditation, restructuring, fundraising and the campaign for a sustainable future.

WINSTON-SALEM STATE UNIVERSITY

❤️ RAM PRIDE MEETS HEALTHCARE POWER

WSSU has built a particularly strong identity around health sciences while maintaining one of the CIAA’s most recognizable athletic and alumni cultures.

CRUSH WATCH: Nursing, health sciences, rehabilitation programs, social mobility and athletics.

OHIO

CENTRAL STATE UNIVERSITY

🟠 CENTRAL STATE’S LAND-GRANT ERA KEEPS EXPANDING

Central State’s 1890 land-grant mission creates new opportunities in agriculture, extension, STEM and community development.

CRUSH WATCH: Agricultural research, extension, engineering and Ohio workforce development.

WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY

🐶 THE NATION’S OLDEST PRIVATE HBCU STILL HAS A FUTURE TO BUILD

Founded in 1856, Wilberforce represents extraordinary institutional survival.

The modern assignment is making history economically sustainable.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, cooperative education, alumni investment and institutional renewal.

OKLAHOMA

LANGSTON UNIVERSITY

🦁 LANGSTON STANDS ALONE AS OKLAHOMA’S HBCU

Being the state’s only HBCU creates responsibility and opportunity.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, rehabilitation sciences, nursing, athletics and statewide recruitment.

PENNSYLVANIA

CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

🐺 AMERICA’S OLDEST HBCU IS WRITING A REINVENTION STORY

No HBCU can claim an older founding date than Cheyney.

Survival through institutional crisis makes its current chapter especially important.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment rebuilding, new partnerships, workforce alignment and preserving a priceless historic campus.

LINCOLN UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

🦁 LINCOLN’S LEGACY OF GLOBAL BLACK LEADERSHIP CONTINUES

Lincoln alumni have influenced politics, literature, diplomacy, civil rights and public life across multiple continents.

CRUSH WATCH: Liberal arts, sciences, international engagement, journalism and leadership development.

SOUTH CAROLINA

ALLEN UNIVERSITY

🟡 ALLEN’S COLUMBIA LOCATION CREATES ROOM TO GROW

South Carolina’s capital provides access to government, business, law and healthcare.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, criminal justice, athletics, graduate growth and city partnerships.

BENEDICT COLLEGE

🐅 BENEDICT KEEPS TURNING COLUMBIA INTO HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE

Benedict has increased its visibility through athletics and institution-building while remaining rooted in South Carolina’s capital.

CRUSH WATCH: SIAC sports, STEM, cybersecurity, business and student success.

CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY

🟠 CLAFLIN MAKES SMALL-SCHOOL ACADEMICS FEEL BIG

Claflin consistently punches above its size through academic reputation, research ambitions and graduate outcomes.

CRUSH WATCH: STEM, research, business, graduate education and Panther athletics.

CLINTON COLLEGE

🐻 CLINTON’S GROWTH STORY DESERVES MORE ATTENTION

The Rock Hill institution has evolved from a two-year college into a four-year HBCU while remaining focused on access and community.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, athletics, business and expanding degree options.

DENMARK TECHNICAL COLLEGE

🛠️ DENMARK TECH PUTS CAREERS FIRST

Denmark Technical College represents another crucial side of the HBCU ecosystem: skilled technical education.

CRUSH WATCH: Trades, automotive technology, workforce development and economic mobility in rural South Carolina.

MORRIS COLLEGE

🔵 MORRIS KEEPS THE SMALL PRIVATE HBCU TRADITION ALIVE

Sumter’s Morris College carries more than a century of Baptist educational history.

CRUSH WATCH: Teacher education, ministry, business, student retention and alumni support.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

🐶 SC STATE CARRIES LAND-GRANT POWER AND BULLDOG PRIDE

Engineering, agriculture, nuclear-related research, teacher education, athletics and the Marching 101 create a broad institutional identity.

CRUSH WATCH: Engineering, research, agriculture, MEAC sports and Orangeburg’s HBCU ecosystem.

VOORHEES UNIVERSITY

🐅 VOORHEES IS THINKING LIKE A UNIVERSITY NOW

The transition from college to university signals a broader institutional ambition.

CRUSH WATCH: Graduate education, cybersecurity, business, athletics and growth in rural South Carolina.

TENNESSEE

AMERICAN BAPTIST COLLEGE

✊ ABC’S CIVIL-RIGHTS CLASSROOM EXTENDS FAR BEYOND CAMPUS

American Baptist College’s history connects theological education directly to activism and social change.

CRUSH WATCH: Ministry, social justice, leadership development and preserving Nashville’s movement history.

FISK UNIVERSITY

💙 FISK’S ART, MUSIC AND ACADEMIC LEGACY REMAINS WORLD-CLASS

The Jubilee Singers alone changed American cultural history.

Fisk also possesses extraordinary art, science and intellectual traditions.

CRUSH WATCH: Arts, music, STEM, restoration of historic assets and Nashville partnerships.

KNOXVILLE COLLEGE

🔴 KNOXVILLE COLLEGE’S STORY REMAINS ONE OF REVIVAL

The Hundred-Seven flags Knoxville College as not currently accredited.

That should be stated plainly.

The positive story is the continued effort to revive and preserve an institution founded in 1875.

CRUSH WATCH: Accreditation efforts, campus restoration, alumni mobilization and whether Knoxville can sustain a full institutional comeback.

LANE COLLEGE

🐉 LANE KEEPS WEST TENNESSEE CONNECTED TO HBCU EDUCATION

Jackson gives Lane a distinctive regional mission outside Tennessee’s largest metropolitan markets.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, education, athletics and growing student opportunity.

LEMOYNE-OWEN COLLEGE

🟣 MEMPHIS NEEDS ITS HBCU—AND LOC IS STILL HERE

Memphis is one of America’s great Black cultural cities.

LeMoyne-Owen is its HBCU.

That relationship alone makes institutional sustainability a cultural priority.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, arts, education, Memphis partnerships and alumni investment.

MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE

🩺 MEHARRY KEEPS PRODUCING HEALTHCARE WHERE AMERICA NEEDS IT

Medical education at Meharry has never been simply about prestige.

It is about who gets treated, who becomes a physician and where those physicians choose to serve.

CRUSH WATCH: Medicine, dentistry, biomedical research, public health and health equity.

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

🐯 TSU SITS AT THE INTERSECTION OF HBCU HISTORY AND THE NEW NASHVILLE

Nashville’s explosive growth creates challenges and extraordinary opportunities for Tennessee State.

CRUSH WATCH: Engineering, agriculture, research, Aristocrat of Bands, athletics and deeper participation in Nashville’s technology and entertainment economies.

TEXAS

HUSTON-TILLOTSON UNIVERSITY

🐏 AUSTIN’S HBCU HAS FRONT-ROW ACCESS TO A TECHNOLOGY CAPITAL

HT’s location is a strategic asset.

Few HBCUs sit inside a technology economy as globally recognizable as Austin’s.

CRUSH WATCH: Technology partnerships, environmental studies, entrepreneurship and ensuring students participate in Austin’s wealth creation.

JARVIS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

🐶 JARVIS IS GROWING INTO ITS UNIVERSITY NAME

The move from college to university represents ambition.

CRUSH WATCH: Graduate education, teacher preparation, business, athletics and East Texas recruitment.

PAUL QUINN COLLEGE

🐯 PAUL QUINN KEEPS REDEFINING WHAT A SMALL HBCU CAN DO

The transformation of its football field into an urban farm became a symbol of institutional reinvention.

Paul Quinn continues leaning into work-college principles, affordability and community entrepreneurship.

CRUSH WATCH: Work-college innovation, food systems, business and Dallas partnerships.

PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY

💜 PVAMU IS BUILT FOR THE NEXT RESEARCH ERA

Prairie View combines scale, engineering, agriculture, architecture, business and proximity to Houston.

That’s a powerful combination.

CRUSH WATCH: Research growth, engineering, energy, architecture, entrepreneurship and SWAC culture.

SOUTHWESTERN CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

🔵 SWCC PRESERVES A RARE HBCU MISSION

Small institutions matter precisely because they offer educational environments the market would otherwise lose.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional sustainability, ministry, student access and alumni engagement.

ST. PHILIP’S COLLEGE

📈 ST. PHILIP’S IS BECOMING AN ENROLLMENT GIANT

St. Philip’s reported enrollment exceeding 18,000 in 2026, giving this San Antonio institution a scale that demands considerably more national HBCU attention.

It is also unique as both an HBCU and Hispanic-Serving Institution.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, workforce education, healthcare, cybersecurity and the San Antonio economy.

TEXAS COLLEGE

💜 TEXAS COLLEGE KEEPS EAST TEXAS IN THE HBCU MAP

Tyler’s HBCU provides a smaller-college alternative inside one of America’s largest states.

CRUSH WATCH: Enrollment, athletics, business and regional partnerships.

TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY

🐯 TSU HAS HOUSTON AS ITS LABORATORY

Law.

Pharmacy.

Business.

Aviation.

Public affairs.

Music.

Sports.

Energy.

Entrepreneurship.

Houston gives Texas Southern access to nearly every industry a modern university could want.

CRUSH WATCH: Aviation, pharmacy, Thurgood Marshall School of Law, energy, entrepreneurship and SWAC athletics.

WILEY UNIVERSITY

🎤 THE GREAT DEBATERS’ UNIVERSITY ENTERS ANOTHER ERA

Wiley’s debate legacy gave the institution a permanent place in American cultural history.

Its university transition provides a platform to build forward from that recognition.

CRUSH WATCH: Debate, communications, business, social justice and graduate growth.

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

UNIVERSITY OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS

🌴 THE HBCU UNIVERSE EXTENDS INTO THE CARIBBEAN

UVI reminds America that the HBCU map doesn’t stop on the continental mainland.

Its location creates distinctive possibilities around marine science, climate, tourism, agriculture and Caribbean studies.

CRUSH WATCH: Marine research, climate resilience, entrepreneurship, tourism and Caribbean identity.

VIRGINIA

HAMPTON UNIVERSITY

⚓ HAMPTON KEEPS BLENDING TRADITION WITH SCALE

Hampton possesses one of the strongest private HBCU brands, with programs stretching from business and journalism to science, aviation and health.

CRUSH WATCH: Research, aviation, business, media, athletics and the Hampton alumni network.

NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY

💚 NSU IS POSITIONED INSIDE A MILITARY-TECHNOLOGY REGION

Hampton Roads combines military installations, shipbuilding, ports, cybersecurity and logistics.

Norfolk State students are sitting inside that economy.

CRUSH WATCH: Cybersecurity, engineering, research, the Spartan Legion and MEAC athletics.

VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY

🧡 VSU’S LAND-GRANT MISSION MEETS THE RICHMOND ECONOMY

Agriculture and extension remain important, but proximity to metropolitan Richmond broadens the opportunity.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, business, engineering technology, research and Trojan athletics.

VIRGINIA UNION UNIVERSITY

🐾 VUU’S RICHMOND LOCATION KEEPS GETTING MORE VALUABLE

Virginia Union combines historic Black education with a rapidly evolving state capital.

CRUSH WATCH: Business, theology, athletics, entrepreneurship and Richmond partnerships.

VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY OF LYNCHBURG

🐉 VUL REPRESENTS THE SMALL END OF THE HBCU SPECTRUM—AND THAT STILL COUNTS

Not every institution will become a research university.

That is not the only definition of value.

CRUSH WATCH: Institutional sustainability, faith-based education, athletics and serving students seeking a smaller environment.

WEST VIRGINIA

BLUEFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY

💙 BLUEFIELD STATE’S RETURN TO UNIVERSITY STATUS SIGNALS AMBITION

The restoration of the Bluefield State University name marked a significant institutional milestone.

CRUSH WATCH: Engineering technology, nursing, athletics and building a stronger university identity in Appalachia.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY

🟡 WVSU BRINGS AN HBCU LAND-GRANT MISSION TO APPALACHIA

West Virginia State occupies a rare intersection of Black educational history and Appalachian geography.

CRUSH WATCH: Agriculture, biotechnology, extension, research and public-service education.

AND THREE NAMES BELONG TO HISTORY

The federal historical universe also includes three institutions listed by The Hundred-Seven as closed:

Concordia College Alabama — closed in 2018.

Lewis College of Business — closed in 2013.

Saint Paul’s College — closed in 2013.

They should not disappear from the story simply because their doors closed.

Closed institutions still produced graduates.

Still created memories.

Still educated communities.

Still belong to HBCU history.

Their archives deserve preservation too.

THIS IS WHY CRUSH COVERS ALL OF THEM.

Howard doesn’t need an introduction.

Neither does FAMU.

Morehouse doesn’t have to explain why Morehouse matters.

Spelman doesn’t have to prove prestige.

But HBCU journalism becomes incomplete when those are the only names America hears.

Somewhere at one of the smaller institutions on this list:

A freshman is arriving who will eventually build a company.

A sophomore is writing a record.

A junior is conducting research.

A senior is preparing for medical school.

An athlete is about to have a breakout season.

A professor is working on something nobody outside the department knows about yet.

A student organization is solving a local problem.

A school everybody has counted out is trying to come back.

A campus is creating a tradition that doesn’t exist yet.

At Tuskegee, that last sentence is literal.

A soccer player is about to score a goal that no Golden Tiger before them has ever scored.

The first.

That is what makes a new school year exciting.

History isn’t only behind HBCUs.

HISTORY IS WALKING ONTO CAMPUS RIGHT NOW.

THE CRUSH HBCU PRIORITY BOARD — 2026–27

SPORTS

Tuskegee soccer. HBCU football. Women’s sports. Olympic sports. NIL. Recruiting. Transfer movement. Breakout athletes.

TECHNOLOGY

Alabama A&M AI. Cybersecurity. Engineering. Robotics. Quantum science. Student startups. HBCU research expansion.

BUSINESS

Student founders. Alumni companies. Venture capital. Real estate. Licensing. Intellectual property. HBCU economic ecosystems.

MUSIC + ENTERTAINMENT

Bands. Artists. DJs. Producers. Film. Fashion. Campus creators. Underground talent before the mainstream discovers it.

RESEARCH + HEALTH

Howard. Morgan. Meharry. Morehouse School of Medicine. Xavier. Agriculture. Biomedical research. Health equity.

CAMPUS CULTURE

Homecoming. Greek life. Bands. traditions. food. fashion. student leadership. nostalgia.

INSTITUTION BUILDING

Enrollment. Accreditation. Philanthropy. New programs. Facilities. Comebacks. Campus redevelopment.

And most importantly:

DISCOVERY

Not merely the schools everyone already talks about.

The person at every school worth knowing before everybody else knows their name.

104 ACTIVE STORIES.

3 CLOSED CHAPTERS THAT STILL MATTER.

107 NAMES IN THE HISTORICAL HBCU UNIVERSE.

From Alabama A&M to Xavier.

From community colleges to medical schools.

From football fields to laboratories.

From theology classrooms to AI labs.

From Savannah to Atlanta.

From Washington to New Orleans.

From Texas to the Virgin Islands.

From institutions flourishing—

to institutions fighting for another chapter.

NO HBCU LEFT OUT OF THE STORY.

CRUSH HBCU

2026–27 STATE OF THE SCHOOLS

EDUCATION × CULTURE × SPORTS × MUSIC × BUSINESS × TECHNOLOGY × OWNERSHIP

FROM THE YARD TO THE WORLD.