Morehouse College was founded in 1867 as the Augusta Institute in Augusta, Georgia. After several name changes and relocations, it settled in Atlanta and is best known as the alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Situated on a 66 acres, the school's original purpose was to prepare black men for teaching and the ministry. As of 2011, it has a student body of about 2,800 students that represent more than 40 states and 27 foreign countries.
The school offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees in 26 majors. Academic divisions include Business Administration and Economics, Science and Mathematics, and Humanities and Social Sciences.
It has produced several Rhodes Scholars, one of two black colleges in the United States to do so. Other notable alumni include filmmaker Spike Lee, Olympic gold medallist Edwin Moses and Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson.
Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, was founded as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in 1868. It evolved from a secondary school and changed its name to Hampton Institute in 1930 and became Hampton University in 1984. Its most notable alumnus is Booker T. Washington.
It features a 314-acre campus and offers 68 undergraduate programs, 27 master's degree programs and six doctoral degree programs. It offers degrees in liberal arts, science, engineering and technology, nursing, pharmacy, and journalism and communications.
Hampton is an NCAA Division I school and its Hampton Pirates compete in football, basketball, tennis, softball, golf, bowling and sailing.
A historically black college for women, Spelman was founded in 1881. Its 39-acre campus is five minutes from downtown Atlanta, Georgia. It has a student body of approximately 2,100 students and offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in art, child development, women's studies, economics, music, political science and psychology, to name a few.
Students can also graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science and physics, among others.
Spelman is the alma mater of Marcelite J. Harris, the first African-American woman to obtain the rank of general in the Air Force. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Alice Walker attended Spelman in 1965 but did not graduate.
Howard University's roots go back to 1866 when the First Congressional Society of Washington sought to create a seminary for educating African-American clergyman. It was named after General Oliver O. Howard, a Civil War hero who founded the University and was commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau.
Located in Washington, D.C., Howard offers undergraduate degrees in arts and science, communications, medicine, education and law, as well as several other disciplines. It boasts 35 master degree programs from anatomy to world languages and culture.
Notable alumni include Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Toni Morrison.