howard.edu

Howard University is a private, historically Black research institution founded in 1867, and howard.edu is its main website. The site is the place to go if you want to apply, explore academic programs, or understand what the university is currently focused on. Its stated motto, "Excellence in Truth and Service" (Veritas et Utilitas), frames how the institution presents itself across the site.

What kind of institution is Howard University?

According to the site, Howard is a private, historically Black research institution. It was founded in 1867, which places it among the older universities in the United States. The homepage describes the student body as including "scholars, student researchers, premier athletes, emerging artists, and entrepreneurs," which signals a broad mix of academic, athletic, and creative profiles rather than a single focus.

The site also highlights external recognition: LinkedIn and Forbes are cited as naming Howard the nation's #1 HBCU, and a news item dated Aug 18, 2026 references Forbes ranking Howard No. 1 on its "America's Top HBCUs" list.

What can you actually do on howard.edu?

The homepage surfaces a small number of primary actions:

• Apply – the main admissions entry point.
• Explore Programs – browse academic offerings.
• Read news and stories – student, faculty, and alumni features, plus institutional announcements.
• Follow the presidential search – see below.

Beyond these, the site functions as the university's central hub for admissions information, academic programs, news, and campus life, based on the content presented on the homepage.

Current institutional news

One active item is the search for Howard's 19th president. The Board of Trustees has launched a national search supported by Russell Reynolds Associates and a Presidential Search Committee. The site invites community input through a survey open through Friday, October 30, 2026, plus in-person and virtual listening sessions for faculty, staff, students, and alumni. If you're researching the university's direction or leadership, this is the section to watch.

Student and alumni stories

The homepage features Class of 2026 profiles, including:

These stories illustrate the range of paths the university publicizes — medicine, dentistry, engineering, athletics, and the arts.

Who is howard.edu useful for?

• Prospective students – start with Apply and Explore Programs to understand admissions and academic options.
• Current students, faculty, and alumni – the presidential search page and news section carry institutional updates and ways to give input.
• Researchers and journalists – the news items and rankings coverage provide citable, dated announcements.
• Anyone curious about HBCUs – the site gives a direct view of how a major historically Black research institution presents its mission, students, and achievements.

What to keep in mind

The homepage is a starting point, not a complete catalog. Details like tuition, deadlines, program requirements, and login-restricted services aren't shown in the material above, so treat howard.edu as the entry point and follow the Apply or Explore Programs links for specifics. If your interest is the leadership transition, note the survey deadline of Friday, October 30, 2026, and check for the listening session schedule.

Howard University's Board of Trustees has launched a national search for the university's 19th president. The search is supported by Russell Reynolds Associates and a Presidential Search Committee, and the university is inviting the community to help shape the process. If you are a faculty member, staff member, student, or alumnus, you can share your perspectives through a community survey that is open through Friday, October 30, 2026, and through upcoming in-person and virtual listening sessions.

Who is running the search

The search is led by the Board of Trustees, which has launched a national search for Howard's 19th president. Two supporting bodies are named in the university's announcement:

• Russell Reynolds Associates — an executive search firm supporting the process.
• A Presidential Search Committee — formed to work alongside the search.

How the community can participate

Howard's announcement states that "the community's voice is essential to this process." There are two named ways to take part:

What the survey asks for

According to the university, the survey invites perspectives on the leadership qualities and priorities that should define Howard's next chapter. In other words, you are not voting on a candidate — you are contributing input on what the next president should prioritize and what kind of leader the university should seek.

What to do if you want to weigh in

1. Decide which channel fits you — the survey, a listening session, or both.
2. If you are faculty, staff, a student, or an alumnus, watch for the in-person and virtual listening sessions scheduled for those groups.
3. Submit your perspectives on leadership qualities and priorities before the survey closes on Friday, October 30, 2026.
4. For the latest details, including session times and the survey link, check the university's search page on howard.edu.

What is not yet known

The available information covers the launch of the search, the organizations and committee involved, and how the community can participate. It does not name candidates or a timeline beyond the survey deadline, so anyone following the process should rely on Howard's own updates for those details.

Howard University is recognized as a leading HBCU because it combines a long institutional history with visible, current markers of achievement: it was founded in 1867 as a private, historically Black research institution, and its own site highlights national recognition — including being named the nation's #1 HBCU by LinkedIn and Forbes — alongside student outcomes in medicine, dentistry, engineering, athletics, and the arts. That combination of history, external ranking, and documented graduate results is what the "leading HBCU" label rests on. If you are evaluating the university for yourself, the useful question is not whether the label exists but what evidence supports it and whether that evidence matches what you care about.

The institutional foundation

Howard describes itself as a private, historically Black research institution founded in 1867. Two parts of that description matter:

• Historically Black: Howard belongs to the category of HBCUs — institutions established to serve Black students, a designation tied to its history rather than to a current restriction on who may attend.
• Research institution: the "research" label signals a focus that goes beyond undergraduate teaching, which is relevant if you are comparing Howard against smaller liberal arts HBCUs.

The university's stated motto, Veritas et Utilitas ("Truth and Service"), appears throughout its homepage as the framing for how it presents itself.

The recognition it points to

The homepage does not argue for Howard's standing in the abstract — it cites outside sources:

A news item dated Aug 18, 2026 covers the Forbes ranking directly. This is the clearest single piece of evidence the site offers for the "leading" claim, and it is worth noting that the claim is attributed to named publications rather than asserted by the university alone.

Student outcomes used as evidence

The university presents individual graduates as proof of what the institution produces. Three examples appear on the homepage:

• Shay Taylor, Class of 2026 — moved from cleaning hospital rooms to graduating from the Howard University College of Medicine and returning as a doctor.
• Raymond Alexander Johnson, Class of 2026 — a former football player who became the top graduate of the Howard University College of Dentistry and is headed to a U.S. Navy oral surgery residency at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
• Jadyn Decuir, Class of 2026 — an engineering major graduating with a 4.0 GPA alongside dance championships.

These span medicine, dentistry, engineering, athletics, and the arts — the range itself is part of the argument, since it shows achievement across fields rather than in one program.

What this means if you are deciding

The recognition is real and sourced, but it answers a broad question ("is this a leading HBCU?") rather than your specific one. To use it well:

• If you care about national reputation, the Forbes and LinkedIn rankings are the most citable evidence, and the Forbes ranking has a dated news item behind it.
• If you care about a specific field, look at the outcome stories for that field — medicine and dentistry have named examples here; other programs may not be represented on the homepage.
• If you care about institutional stability, note that the site also announces a national search for Howard's 19th president, with a community survey open through Friday, October 30, 2026, plus in-person and virtual listening sessions for faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Leadership transitions are normal, but they are a factor worth knowing about.

Where to go next on howard.edu

The homepage offers two direct entry points: Apply and Explore Programs. If your interest is the ranking itself, the news section links to the Forbes coverage. If your interest is the presidential search, the site points to a dedicated search page with the survey and listening-session details.

The short version: Howard's claim to leadership as an HBCU rests on a documented 1867 founding as a private research institution, external #1 rankings from Forbes and LinkedIn, and a set of named graduate outcomes across several fields — and the site gives you the links to check each of those for yourself.

Howard University's homepage at howard.edu puts two primary actions front and center: Apply and Explore Programs. If you are a prospective student, those two links are your fastest route into the admissions and academics sections. If you are a general visitor, the same page also surfaces current news, student and alumni features, and institutional announcements such as the search for Howard's 19th president.

Start With the Two Main Calls to Action

The homepage is built around a simple entry point. The visible calls to action are:

• Apply — the starting point for prospective students who want to begin or review the application process.
• Explore Programs — the path for browsing Howard's academic offerings before or alongside applying.

Because these appear prominently on the main page, you do not need to hunt through menus to find them. Treat them as the two doors: one for admission, one for academics.

If your goal is to apply

1. Open howard.edu.
2. Select Apply.
3. Follow the admissions flow from there.

The homepage itself does not spell out deadlines, requirements, or fees, so expect those details to live inside the admissions section rather than on the landing page.

If your goal is to explore academic programs

1. Open howard.edu.
2. Select Explore Programs.
3. Browse the program listings to identify fields of interest.

This is the better first step if you are still deciding what to study, since it lets you see options before committing to an application track.

What Else You Will Find on the Homepage

Beyond the two main actions, the homepage functions as a live window into the university. Useful sections include:

The student features are worth noting because they show the range of paths Howard highlights — for example, a College of Medicine graduate who previously worked as a hospital janitor, a College of Dentistry graduate heading to a U.S. Navy oral surgery residency, and an engineering major graduating with a 4.0 GPA alongside dance championships. These are useful signals if you are trying to understand the university's culture, not just its program list.

A Practical Navigation Strategy

If you are short on time, use this order:

1. Decide your purpose first. Applying and exploring are different tasks, and the homepage gives each its own entry point.
2. Use Explore Programs before Apply if you are undecided about a field.
3. Check the News section for time-sensitive items, such as the presidential search survey, which the site notes is open through Friday, October 30, 2026, along with in-person and virtual listening sessions for faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
4. Read student and alumni stories if you want a sense of outcomes and community before committing.

Common Sticking Points

• Expecting application details on the homepage. The homepage provides the entry point, not the full requirements. Deadlines, documents, and fees will be inside the admissions area.
• Confusing news with admissions information. Rankings and presidential search updates are institutional news; they are not application instructions.
• Skipping program exploration. Going straight to Apply without reviewing programs can mean choosing a track before you have compared options.

The homepage is a launchpad, not an encyclopedia. Use Apply and Explore Programs as your primary routes, and treat the news and feature sections as context that helps you decide whether Howard is the right fit.