Howard University
Washington, DC
Howard University is a private, historically Black research university in Washington, D.C., a large city, with 10,108 undergraduates. Communication is its signature field: 13% of its bachelor's degrees, about three times its share across the colleges we cover. 70% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $63,066 ten years after starting.
Howard University admitted 14,144 of 34,211 applicants for the fall 2024 entering class (41.3%).
- Acceptance rate
- 41.3%
- Fall 2024 class
- Tuition and fees
- $35,810
- 2024–25 school year
- Paid after aid
- $50,539
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1050–1250
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2024 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Howard University is known for
Measured by the 1,657 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Communication
13.1%
of its bachelor's degrees: about three times the 4.5% share across the colleges we cover.
- Biology18611.2% of degrees$60,923+6% vs $57,214 nationally
- Political Science and Government1488.9% of degrees$65,733About the $63,293 national median
- Psychology1328.0% of degrees$59,069+16% vs $50,706 nationally
- Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs (other)1217.3% of degrees$59,909+8% vs $55,384 nationally
- Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication965.8% of degrees$67,881+7% vs $63,560 nationally
- Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness774.6% of degrees$61,316+12% vs $54,562 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Large city
Washington, DC
Undergraduates
10,108
Fall 2024
Type
Private, nonprofit
Doctoral university, high research activity
Living on campus
Half or more
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
13 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
5%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Howard University
Three things Howard University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
Howard University files test scores under “very important”.
That is the school’s own placement on the grid it publishes every year. 47% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
47% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 16% sent an ACT. Howard University files test scores under “very important”.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Howard University asks for no supplemental essay.
Of the 2 prompts we track for this application, none is one you would have to write.
Source: the prompts we track for this application
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
41.3%
14,144 admitted of 34,211 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
SAT, middle 50%
1050–1250
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
ACT, middle 50%
22–28
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Average GPA of admitted students
3.75
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
47%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
16%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Where do you actually stand at Howard University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Howard University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
Tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $35,810, and the full cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $54,630. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $50,539 a year on average.
Tuition and fees
$35,810
2024–25 school year
Full cost of attendance
$54,630
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$50,539
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $54,630 full cost.
- Under $30k$46,051Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$47,477Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$50,245Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$52,981Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$54,270Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
70%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
91%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$63,066
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$24,500
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
What Howard University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
- GPAvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
- Test scoresvery important
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
- Essayconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
- Recommendationsconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
- Class rankconsidered
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
The early round, in counts
Two published rates side by side. Early applicants are a different group of students, so the gap is a fact about those pools, not a lever anyone can pull.
Early Decision
1.2× the rateEarly Decision admitted 49.4% (172 of 348), against 41.3% in the regular round.
13,972 of 33,863 in the comparison pool.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
The waitlist, as the school reported it
Published counts, including the ones schools rarely lead with.
- Offered a waitlist place
- 5,972
- Accepted the place
- 476
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Essays on this application
2 essay prompts on the application: 2 are optional.
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
- Regular DecisionDecember 15, 2026
Verified July 10, 2026 · Source
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in Washington, D.C.
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
- George Washington University47.1%
- American University65.6%
- Georgetown University13.5%
- The Catholic University of America83.8%
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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