Forbes Top HBCUs 2026 is here, and it's the first ranking the publication has ever built just for historically Black colleges and universities. ⁠ ⁠ 📊 The list spans 20 schools total, split into two separate top-10 tables — one for private HBCUs and one for public — so each sector gets judged against its own peers rather than competing on very different budgets.⁠ ⁠ howard1867 claimed the No. 1 spot among private HBCUs, a title it also holds on Forbes' broader 2026 America's Top Colleges list. Spelman, Morehouse, Xavier of Louisiana, and Hampton rounded out the private top five, followed by Tuskegee, Fisk, Talladega, Clark Atlanta, and Tougaloo.⁠ ⁠ On the public side, ncatsuaggies took the top ranking with a 55% six-year graduation rate and graduates reporting median mid-career pay of $116,300. Florida A&M, Prairie View A&M, Morgan State, and the University of the Virgin Islands rounded out the public top five, followed by Tennessee State, Bowie State, Winston-Salem State, Elizabeth Cit...