Since 1867, Howard has awarded more than 100,000 degrees in the professions, arts, sciences and humanities. Howard ranks among the highest producers of the nation’s Black professionals in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, nursing, architecture, religion, law, music, social work and education.
The University has long held a commitment to the study of disadvantaged people in American society and throughout the world. The goal is the elimination of inequities related to race, color, social-, economic- and political circumstances. Howard is one of the major engineers of change in our society. Through its traditional and cutting-edge academic programs, the University seeks to improve the circumstances of all people in the search for peace and justice on earth. Over the span of the University’s nearly 150 years of history, Howard has evolved from a single building in 1867 to a complex of four campuses totaling more than 250 acres in the District of Columbia and Maryland. The University’s 97-acre Central Campus in Shaw is also home to the six-story, 400-bed Howard University Hospital.
Since 1974, the University has expanded beyond its Central Campus to include a 19-acre West Campus in Van Ness, a 23-acre East Campus in Brookland, acreage in northeast Washington and a more than 108-acre research campus in Beltsville, Maryland. Howard prepares men and women to advance social justice and the preservation of human liberty. In each of its 13 schools and colleges, Howard University seeks to develop technically competent and morally committed individuals.
The University’s library system contains more than 1.8 million volumes, including the Channing Pollock Collection. The Moorland-Spingarn Research Center is recognized as one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive repositories for the documentation of the history and culture of people of African descent in Africa, the Americas and other areas worldwide.
The University competes in 17 varsity sports, including basketball, football, bowling, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball and indoor and outdoor track. Regarded as one of the most prestigious institutions of higher learning, current enrollment is approximately 10,000 students and includes representation from nearly every state, the District of Columbia and more than 70 countries. The University traditionally has had the largest group of Black scholars in the world.