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Howard University Data & Information Overview

Fair Price Value for Your Money
41% Acceptance Rate
10% Student Loan Default Rate

If you want to know more about Howard University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource.

Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.

* Rankings

How Does Howard University Stack Up?

#866 Best Colleges in Nation
#6 Best Colleges in DC
Howard University ranking badge

2026 College Rankings

College Factual recognizes the best colleges and universities in its annual rankings. These rankings include categories for best overall colleges, best colleges for each major, best value schools, and much more.

Overall Ranking

According to College Factual’s 2026 analysis, HU is ranked #866 out of 3,449 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

Within the state, HU holds the #6 spot on the Best Colleges in District of Columbia ranking.

See all of the rankings for Howard University.

Is It Hard to Get Into Howard University?

41% Acceptance Rate
42% Of Accepted Are Women
23% Submit SAT Scores

Getting Accepted

Howard University has an acceptance rate of 41%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for HU.

Average Test Scores

About 23% of students accepted to HU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 560 and 670. Math scores were between 530 and 650.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Howard University  ( 560 to 670 )
200
800
SAT Math Scores for Howard University  ( 530 to 650 )
200
800

HU received ACT scores from 9% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 22 and 28.

ACT Composite Scores for Howard University  ( 22 to 28 )
1
36

Learn more about Howard University admissions.

Instructors at Howard University

13 to 1 Student to Faculty
67% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at Howard University is about average at 13 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.

The full-time faculty percentage at Howard University is 67%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  67 out of 100
0
100

Academic Performance at Howard University

90% Freshmen Retention
69% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshman Success

The freshmen retention rate of 90% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Howard University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  90 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at HU for first-time, full-time students is 69%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  69 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Howard University.

Student Demographics at Howard University

9,604 Undergraduate Students
79.6% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
70.7% Percent Women

During the most recent academic year, there were 9,604 undergraduates at HU.

Get more detailed information on the diversity at Howard University.

Cost of Attending Howard University

$16,772 Net Price
59% Take Out Loans
$26,972 Total Student Loans

The typical net cost at HU is $16,772. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.### Net Price by Income Group for HU

$0-30 K$30K-48K$48-75$75-110K$110K +
$44,234$45,504$49,005$50,842$51,384

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of HU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

Borrowing and Loans

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At HU, approximately 59% of students took out student loans averaging $6,743 a year. That adds up to $26,972 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 9.6%. This is about the same as the national default rate of 10.1%. Get more details about paying for Howard University.

What Do Howard University Alumni Earn?

$63,066 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost

Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Howard University make around $63,066 per year during the early years of their employment. That’s great news for Howard University students since it is 28% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.

See which majors at Howard University make the most money.

Location of Howard University

District of Columbia State
9,604 Undergraduate Students
Large City Campus Setting

Howard University is an private not-for-profit institution found in Washington, District of Columbia. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life. Get more details about the location of Howard University.

Location of Howard University

Contact details for Howard University can be found below.

Contact Details
Address:2400 Sixth St NW, Washington, DC 20059
Phone:2028066100
Website:www.howard.edu
Facebook:www.facebook.com/howarduniversity
Twitter:twitter.com/HowardU

Howard University Majors

26 Majors With Completions
5,824 Undergraduate Degrees

In the most recent reporting year, students from 26 majors graduated from Howard University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular MajorsCompletionsAverage Salary of Graduates
Multi-Disciplinary Studies2,912NA
General Biology209$24,174
Political Science & Government196$31,844
General Psychology182$22,431
Law152$62,960
Other Communication & Journalism137$27,756
Social Work127$53,307
Health Sciences & Services97$24,776
Computer Science97NA
Medicine95$57,999

Learn more about the majors offered at Howard University along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at HU

79% Take At Least One Class Online
8% Take All Classes Online

Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.

7,596 students took at least one online class at Howard University.

Learn more about online learning at Howard University.

Notes and References

Footnotes

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

References

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