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The Rise · HBCU

CAU(Clark Atlanta University)

School colors: Red, black, gray

WEB DuBois bust at Clark Atlanta University
Hildabast, 2017-04-29, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Atlanta, Georgia · Founded 1865

Private · Four-year · ~4,100 students

www.cau.edu · official site

Founding

Clark Atlanta University unites two institutions: Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association and the nation's first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans, and Clark College, established in 1869 as the nation's first four-year liberal arts college serving a primarily African American student body. Clark College was chartered and renamed Clark University in 1877.

Source: History, Clark Atlanta University, read 2026-09-14.

What the school says about itself

Motto
Find a Way or Make OneSource, read 2026-09-17.
On the record
  • It is the nation's oldest graduate institution serving a predominantly African American student body. Source, read 2026-09-17.

On the official record

Campus address
223 James P Brawley Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA 30314
Control
Private not-for-profit
Students
~4,100 students
Directory id
138947
OPE id
00155900
Student aid
Takes part in Title IV student aid
Title III Part B list, FY 2026
Listed
Location
223 James P Brawley Drive, SW, Atlanta, GA. See it on the Ledger map.
Where this location comes fromCampus location from IPEDS 2024-25This campus location comes from the federal IPEDS 2024-25 record, used as published, so the pin on the map is the campus.IPEDS Institutional Characteristics, Directory information (HD2024), 2024-25 collection, file dated 2025-09-21, retrieved 2026-09-14: coordinate 33.747628, -84.412584 as published. The Census Bureau geocoder returned Non Exact for the address on file, which no longer decides placement.

Across newBWS

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics, Directory information (HD2024), 2024-25 provisional data collection. Unit id 138947. https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/data/HD2024.zip. File dated 2025-09-21.
  2. U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education. Higher Education Programs Eligibility Matrix, sheet 'HBCU', dated 2026-06-08. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/fy-2026-higher-education-programs-eligibility-matrix-june-8-2026-114185.xlsx.
  3. History, Clark Atlanta University. https://www.cau.edu/about/history. Read 2026-09-14.
  4. Undergraduate Admissions, Clark Atlanta University. https://www.cau.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions. Read 2026-09-17.
  5. Students: 4,135 total, Fall 2023 (3,495 undergraduate, 640 graduate). IPEDS Fall Enrollment 2023, derived variables (DRVEF2023). https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/data/DRVEF2023.zip. File dated 2024-09-30, read 2026-09-17.
  6. History, Clark Atlanta University. https://www.cau.edu/about/history. Read 2026-09-17.
  7. School colors: Red, black, gray. Values as stated. Clark Atlanta University, Wikipedia (revision 1372195686). Read 2026-09-16.
  8. Photograph: Hildabast, 2017-04-29, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WEB_DuBois_bust_at_Clark_Atlanta_University.jpg. Retrieved 2026-09-16.
  9. U.S. Census Bureau Geocoder, batch address service, benchmark Public_AR_Current. https://geocoding.geo.census.gov/geocoder/.

Enrollment is the official 2023 count, rounded. Tap a school for its source.

Machine-readable: /api/v1/hbcus/clark-atlanta-university · All HBCUs

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