§ SCHOOLS · 3 MIN READ
The Freshman Class Broke the Record Again
North Carolina A&T just enrolled 15,700 students and its largest first-year class ever. It is the thirteenth straight year of growth, and it is not alone. Across the country, HBCUs opened this fall bigger than they have ever been.
By Culture
THE SHORT VERSION
North Carolina A&T State University enrolled about 15,700 students for fall 2026, including a record 3,214 first-year students, its thirteenth consecutive year of growth. Winston-Salem State reached a record 5,210, Florida Memorial University enrolled 2,556 in its largest class in 147 years, and Edward Waters University reached 1,281, up 37 percent since 2019.
Somewhere in Greensboro, North Carolina, right now, 3,214 eighteen-year-olds are learning where the good dining hall is. They are the largest first-year class in the history of North Carolina A&T State University, the largest historically Black university in the country. Total enrollment this fall is about 15,700. That is thirteen straight years of growth. Thirteen.
The story is not one school. It is a pattern.
The Ledger
Here is what the fall 2026 numbers look like at HBCUs that have reported so far.
Why Now
A&T's chancellor, James R. Martin II, put it simply: student success is the priority campus-wide, and success in that arena is what lets the university keep growing graduation, which he called its most important outcome. That is a college president saying the quiet part. Growth follows finishing, not the other way around.
The specifics back him up. Forbes ranked A&T the number one public HBCU in the country in its first HBCU rankings. The school is a top ten producer of Black graduates in 24 different fields. Its health and human sciences college passed 3,000 students, the first college inside A&T to do it. New programs in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, agriculture, and a criminal justice doctorate with a digital forensics track are built around jobs that exist.
“Nobody tells a kid to go where the graduation rate is. They just end up there.”
What to Tell a Senior
If you have a high school senior in the house, here is the takeaway in one breath. HBCUs are not the safety school. They are the growth school. The campuses that are getting bigger are the ones graduating people into real work, and the numbers are public.
Then do these four things, in this order.
And if college is not this year's road, it is not the only one. Free GED and exam prep runs locally, and a paid apprenticeship starts earning immediately. The record class will still be there next fall.
- Which HBCU has the largest enrollment?
- North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro is the largest historically Black university in the country, with about 15,700 students in fall 2026. That includes a record 3,214 first-year students, and enrollment has grown thirteen years in a row.
- Are HBCU enrollments growing?
- Yes. Fall 2026 brought records at several HBCUs: North Carolina A&T at about 15,700, Winston-Salem State at 5,210, Florida Memorial at 2,556, and Edward Waters at 1,281, up 37 percent since 2019.
- How many students go to Florida Memorial University?
- Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens enrolled 2,556 students in fall 2026. That is the largest enrollment in the school's 147-year history and double the fall 2025 number.
- What is North Carolina A&T's retention rate?
- At North Carolina A&T, 81.2 percent of first-year students come back for a second year. The average incoming freshman has a 3.7 high school GPA.
- Who is the chancellor of North Carolina A&T?
- James R. Martin II is the chancellor of North Carolina A&T State University. Martin calls graduation the school's most important outcome and says student success is what lets the university keep growing.
- What questions should a family ask a college before applying?
- Ask what share of first-year students come back for a second year and what share graduate. Also ask whether any grant is renewable every year or only for the first, because that is where families get surprised in year two.
- When should I file the FAFSA?
- File the FAFSA the week it opens. The form is free and takes about an hour, and comparing more than one real aid offer is the main leverage a family has.
