U.S. News & World Report has released their 2023-24 ranking of the top HBCUs in the nation and a couple of new HBCUs have cracked the top 10. The list is published annually and uses several factors to determine the rankings of the HBCUs.

The ranking system relies on two fundamental aspects: quantitative and qualitative measures that education experts have identified as dependable indicators of academic excellence alongside U.S. News' perspective on what holds significance in the realm of education. There are seven categories of indicators that are utilized to measure academic quality: outcomes, metrics, student loan burden, evaluation by administrators at peer HBCUs, faculty resources, financial resources, student excellence, and alumni donations.

A notable addition to the top ten HBCUs list is Morgan State University. Morgan State noticeably leaped up into the top ten after being ranked number 12 in 2023. Morgan Stat is making strides as the institution looks to further expand upon its research footprint and achieve R1 status.

The full list of the top 10 HBCUs is featured below. To see the full list, rankings, and methodology click here.

U.S. News & World Report Top Ten HBCUs

RankingHBCU2023 Ranking
1Spelman College1
2Howard University2
3 (tie)Florida A&M University3
3 (tie)Tuskegee University4
5Morehouse College5
6Xavier University of Louisiana6
7Hampton University7 (tie)
8North Carolina A&T St. University7 (tie)
9Delaware State University9 (tie)
10Morgan State University12