Moving up among the top 40 liberal arts colleges and ranked No. 1 HBCU for the 17th consecutive year
Media Contacts:
Lydia Sermons, 470-898-6451, lydiasermons@spelman.edu
Denise Ward, 770-862-4028, deniseward@spelman.edu
ATLANTA (September 18, 2023) - Spelman College continues to rank high among the best colleges in the nation, according to the 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges Report. The College ranked No. 39 on the list of Best National Liberal Arts institutions, up from No. 51 in 2023. For the 17th consecutive year, Spelman has earned the distinction of being the No. 1 Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the nation.
“Spelman’s recognition among the best colleges in the nation by U.S. News and World Report is a testament to the College’s continuing legacy of academic excellence, which is achieved through our award-winning and distinguished faculty, dedicated staff and high-achieving students,” said Helene Gayle, president of Spelman College. “These rankings underscore why our mission matters and are helpful to attract a diverse pool of students, top-tier faculty and staff, research opportunities and funding support, as well as inspiring pride among our college community and alumnae.”
Spelman was ranked No. 2 on the list of Top Performers in Social Mobility, an increase from No. 5 last year. Spelman, like all HBCU’s, remains a valuable part of changing the social trajectory of our nation by remaining an academic anchor and engine of economic mobility for Black families and communities. HBCUs make up just 3 percent of the nation’s colleges and universities, yet produce nearly 20 percent of all Black graduates, and boost their students into higher income categories and prominent leadership and business positions.
Other key rankings this year include: No. 11 in Learning Communities, No. 15 Most Innovative Schools —National Liberal Arts Colleges, No. 19 in Undergraduate Teaching – National Liberal Arts Colleges. Spelman also ranked in two new categories this year, including No. 80 Best Undergraduate Psychology program and No. 145 in Best Undergraduate Economics program.
As a global leader in the education of women African decent, Spelman’s mission is to provide an outstanding learning environment for students, centered around rigorous academic programs in the STEM fields, humanities, social sciences and the arts; interdisciplinary centers of excellence and partnership and exchange programs. Spelman empowers students to engage in the many cultures of the world and effect positive social change.
U.S. News analysts and editors use a wide range of data sources to calculate more than 80 Best Colleges rankings with the intent of enabling students and their families to identify colleges that best meet their needs.
Spelman also received notable recognition in other recent rankings including:
- The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse 2024 Best U.S. Colleges list ranks Spelman at 179 and scores the College at 68.3 percent, placing Spelman in the top 45 percent of all 400 colleges surveyed.
- Niche ranked Spelman No. 9 out of 22 Best Women’s Colleges in America; No. 84 out of 309 Best Liberal Arts Colleges in America; No. 79 out of 901 Best Colleges for English; and No. 85 out of 822 Best Colleges for Political Science, among others.
###
About Spelman College
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a leading liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,300 students. Spelman is the country's leading producer of Black women who complete Ph.Ds. in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Recent initiatives include a designation by the Department of Defense as a Center of Excellence for Minority Women in STEM, a Gender and Sexuality Studies Institute, the first endowed queer studies chair at an HBCU and a program to increase the number of Black women Ph.Ds. in economics. New majors and minors have been added, including documentary filmmaking and photography, data science, refugee studies, and gaming. Collaborations have been also established with MIT’s Media Lab, the Broad Institute and the Army Research Lab for artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.
Outstanding alumnae include Children’s Defense Fund founder Marian Wright Edelman, former Walgreens Boots Alliance CEO Rosalind Brewer, political leader Stacey Abrams, Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook, former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna president Audrey Forbes Manley, Harvard University professor and former Dean Evelynn Hammonds, actress and producer Latanya Richardson Jackson, global bioinformatics geneticist Janina Jeff and authors Pearl Cleage and Tayari Jones.
To learn more, please visit spelman.edu and @spelmancollege on social media.