Want to take classes where Toni Morrison studied before she became a Nobel Prize winning novelist? Howard University has a long list of illustrious alumni to inspire undergrads, including Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice; Debbie Allen, the renowned dancer and actress; and former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young, the first African American U.N. ambassador.
The school's 2,000 faculty members represent the largest concentration of black scholars at any higher institution in the country, said Rob Franek, author of the Princeton Review's annual The Best 373 Collegesguide.
Howard is known for its strong medicine, dentistry and pharmacy programs, and its 10,500 students come from all 50 states and nearly 100 countries.
"It has prepared me to work with different types of people from all over the world and learn from classmates and faculty with completely different life experiences than I have lived," said Victoria Kirby, a Howard graduate from Tampa, Fla. "Attending Howard has been the best decision of my life," Kirby said.
And while tuition is just over $18,000 a year, "the best thing about it is that I owed less than $10,000 in loans when I graduated," Kirby said.
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