U.S. News and World Report released its 2026 Best Colleges rankings Sept. 23, recognizing Howard University as the No. 1 national university for social mobility in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region. Among the national universities in the social mobility category, Howard ranked No. 17 overall and was also the top historically Black college or university (HBCU). The university also garnered identical recognition in the undergraduate teaching programs category among national universities, topping all other institutions in the DMV and other HBCUs. 

“Howard University continues to model inclusive academic excellence,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, M.D., MBA, Howard’s interim president, president emeritus, and Charles R. Drew Professor of Surgery. “It is our priority to ensure that all of our talented students are provided with the attention, resources, and training they need to become leaders in their professions, no matter the socio-economic background of their families. Our tradition is to elevate the worth of every student.”

U.S. News’ social mobility ranking evaluates the success of colleges in enrolling and graduating proportions of students who were awarded Pell Grants, made available to students with lower family incomes. Howard’s ranking on the U.S. News list follows other acknowledgement of its ability to help students with lower family incomes enroll, graduate, and launch successful careers. Among institutions with a Research One (R1) designation, the nation’s highest Carnegie Classification for research spending and doctorate production, Howard has the highest “access” ratio, based on “enrollment of Pell Grant recipients and students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups compared to a similar population in their area.” Among HBCUs, Howard graduates have the highest median earnings eight years after graduation. In addition, LinkedIn recently ranked Howard as the nation’s No. 1 HBCU based on the long-term career success of its students and alumni.

Ranked No. 88 overall among national universities, Howard was recognized as the No. 1 “best value school” among HBCUs. Also among HBCUs, the university had the top programs in business, computer science, economics, and psychology, while it ranked No. 2 overall for veterans programs and undergraduate engineering programs.

U.S. News publishes the Best Colleges rankings each year to provide prospective students and their families with the comparative merits of the undergraduate programs at America’s colleges and universities. The rankings examine more than 1,700 U.S. colleges and universities, using up to 17 factors to measure academic quality and graduate success, such as graduation rates, graduate indebtedness and post-graduate earnings.

In addition to these rankings, Forbes Magazine ranked Howard as the No. 1 HBCU in the nation for the second year in a row, according to its 2026 America’s Top Colleges rankings.