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The Rise · HBCU

Hampton University

School colors: Blue & white

A Load of Vegetables, Hampton Institute
Historic photograph. Unknown, book in which the image is published in was edited by W. N. Hartshorn and George W. Penniman., 1910, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Hampton, Virginia · Founded 1868 · Pirates

Private · Four-year · ~3,600 students

www.hamptonu.edu · official site

Founding

Hampton University's history page traces its roots to Mary Peake's first class of about twenty students on September 17, 1861, under an oak tree, and to the Butler School that General Benjamin Butler founded in 1863. Samuel Chapman Armstrong opened Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute on April 1, 1868, with funding from the American Missionary Association.

Source: History, Hampton University, read 2026-09-14.

What the school says about itself

Motto
The Standard of Excellence, An Education for LifeSource, read 2026-09-17.
On the record
  • This tree would later be known as the Emancipation Oak and would become the site of the first Southern reading of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Source, read 2026-09-17.
  • On February 11, 1960, a group of Hampton Institute students were the first in Virginia to stage a lunch counter sit-in, to protest local business' refusal to serve blacks and whites equally. Source, read 2026-09-17.
Notable Alumni, as the school lists them
  • Booker T. Washington, University & Academic Leadership
  • Freeman Hrabowski, III, University & Academic Leadership
  • John H. Sengstacke, Media & Publishing
  • Allyson Kay Duncan, Law & Judiciary
  • Percy Sutton, Business & Technology
  • Robert Sengstacke Abbott, Business & Technology
  • James West, Business & Technology
  • Christine Darden, Science & Engineering
  • Mary Jackson, Science & Engineering
  • Alberta Williams King, Civil Rights, Religion and Social Justice
  • Francena McCorory, Athletics
  • Sylvia Trent-Adams, Military
From Notable Alumni, Hampton University, read 2026-09-17. Names as the page lists them.

On the official record

Campus address
200 William R. Harvey Way, Hampton, VA 23668-0099
Control
Private not-for-profit
Students
~3,600 students
Directory id
232265
OPE id
00371400
Student aid
Takes part in Title IV student aid
Title III Part B list, FY 2026
Listed
Location
200 William R. Harvey Way, Hampton, VA. 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 37.019944, -76.339161 as published. The Census Bureau geocoder returned No Match 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 232265. 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, Hampton University. https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/history/. Read 2026-09-14.
  4. Facts and Figures, Hampton University. https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/facts-figures/. Read 2026-09-17.
  5. Students: 3,649 total, Fall 2023 (3,255 undergraduate, 394 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. Facts and Figures, Hampton University. https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/facts-figures/. Read 2026-09-17.
  7. History, Hampton University. https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/history/. Read 2026-09-17.
  8. Notable Alumni, Hampton University. https://home.hamptonu.edu/about/notable-alumni/. Read 2026-09-17.
  9. School colors: Blue & white. Values as stated. Hampton University, Wikipedia (revision 1373758145). Read 2026-09-16.
  10. Photograph: Unknown, book in which the image is published in was edited by W. N. Hartshorn and George W. Penniman., 1910, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Load_of_Vegetables,_Hampton_Institute.jpg. Retrieved 2026-09-16.
  11. 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/hampton-university · All HBCUs

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