Rate this HBCU Day 84: Albany State University

[DrBanneker]

We last covered Bethune Cookman University which received an average score of 7.3.

See the updated leaderboard here


Today we travel to the historic Georgia Black Belt to cover Albany State University. Albany State is interesting in that it is the only HBCU I know of that was founded by direct inspiration from W.E.B. DuBois. Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley, the school's founder, an outstanding individual, was a wealthy Black man that had attended the prestigious Phillips Academy (now Phillips-Exeter) where he was the only Black student. He later graduated from Lincoln University. He was inspired to start a school in Albany, Georgia after reading about the poverty and deprivation of Black people in Albany in the chapter "The Black Belt" in DuBois' The Souls of Black Folk.

He went to Albany and using his own funds and a donation from the Hazard family he purchased 100 acres of land east if the Flint River and started the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institution in 1903. The school's name changed in 1910 to the Georgia Normal and Agricultural College where is combined the training of local Blacks in teaching as well as vocational learning. In 1920, he purchased a 500 acre farm so students could gain hands-on experience in agriculture including modern cross-breeding and other techniques becoming popular with the increasing knowledge of genetics. In 1932, the school joined the University of Georgia System and changed its name to Albany State College in 1943 and later Albany State University in 1996.

Albany State University is the largest HBCU in Georgia and like all other public HBCUs in Georgia is open admissions.

Dr. Joseph Winthrop Holley

Founded: 1903

City, State: Albany, GA

Type: 4-year, Public

Nickname: Golden Rams

Enrollment and percent Black enrollment: 6,297 (5,824 undergraduate), 83% Black

Part-time student percentage: 33%

First Generation Student Percentage: 33%

Percentage of students from households under $30k/over $100k: 59% / 5%

Out of State Percentage: 11%, (Top States: Florida, Alabama, Maryland)

Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 20:1

Admissions Acceptance Rate: Open admissions

4-Yr / 6-Yr Graduation rates: 18% / 41%

Transfer out rate: 39%

Male/Female percentages (Female:Male Ratio): 26% male/ 74% female (2.9:1 ratio)

Tuition: In-State: $6k Out-of-State: $17k

Median Federal Debt After Graduation: $26k

Median Parent PLUS Loans After Graduation: $12k

Median Earning 10-Years after 10 years from freshman year: $37k

Median Earnings for specific majors after 3 years after graduation:
Registered Nursing: $88k, Education: $43k, Biology: $40k, Accounting: $39k

Top Majors by Degrees:
Education, Registered Nursing, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Psychology

Endowment: ~$2M

Alumni Engagement: 4.9% of alumni give back

Athletic Conference: SIAC (NCAA Div II)

Mascot: Golden Rams

Main Campus:

Student Center

ASU Coliseum

Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) Complex Complex

Marching Rams

Cheerleaders

Golden Pasionnettes Dancers

Miss Albany State

@invalid @Originalman @#1 pick @Ziggiy @SupaVillain @Tug life @Idaeo @get these nets @MostReal @Bryan Danielson @Rollie Forbes @Sonic Boom of the South @staticshock @Charlie Hustle @BigAggieLean. @Optimus Prime @How Sway? @DropTopDoc @Anerdyblackguy

 

[DrBanneker]

Notable Alumni:
Rick Ross - rapper (played football at ASU for 2 years)

Jo Marie Payton - best known as the original Hariette Winslow on Family Matters

Shaun Harper - professor and commentator on racial equality issues

Alice Coachman - first Black American woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics (went to Tuskegee and then Albany State)

S.O.S. band - Two founding members went to Albany State

 

[DropTopDoc]

My good friends brother went there, and he lived there for a minute cool lil small town feel

 

[DrBanneker]

Oh and @Lucky_Lefty

 

[Rollie Forbes]

The S.O.S. Band?

 

[get these nets]

Thank You. Has one of the great backstories of the series. Man literally ACTED based on reading The Souls of Black Folks. WOW!
Common theme in the origin stories is Black agency, seeing a problem and doing things to address it. Another , less common theme is a graduate of one school being instrumental in the founding of another school. Booker T. Washington being the most famous example. Thanks for informing us about Dr. Holley. The Dubois connection theme is also present.

Completion rates are decent considering that a third of the students are part time.
And school seems to give great support for students after their first four years of study. Numbers are even better considering that it's open enrollment.

Endowment is lower than expected considering its the biggest school in the state.

If I'm contributing to one school, and it's between them and another school of comparable resources, ASU would get the nod.

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

Oh and @Lucky_Lefty

My man...my academic career took me to MANY schools but Albany State was my first. After dropping out and going to Job Corps, one of the greatest humans I ever met when I was a teen took me down to admissions and paid for my application fee and got me in for the summer semester. All it took was that summer term for me to know why I hated and dropped out of school. But I met some pretty good professors that one semester who I wish I kept in contact with. When I decided not to come back for the Fall and go in the army, one of the professors assured me that whenever I decided to go back to school, Albany State would always be there for me. And if ASU wasn't in my future, ASU would support me no matter what. A 18 yr old Lefty needed that and XX yr old Lefty hasn't forgotten that. I'm forever indebted to Albany State University, even if I didn't get my degrees from there.

A Past To Cherish, A Future To Fulfill!

 

[DropTopDoc]

My man...my academic career took me to MANY schools but Albany State was my first. After dropping out and going to Job Corps, one of the greatest humans I ever met when I was a teen took me down to admissions and paid for my application fee and got me in for the summer semester. All it took was that summer term for me to know why I hated and dropped out of school. But I met some pretty good professors that one semester who I wish I kept in contact with. When I decided not to come back for the Fall and go in the army, one of the professors assured me that whenever I decided to go back to school, Albany State would always be there for me. And if ASU wasn't in my future, ASU would support me no matter what. A 18 yr old Lefty needed that and XX yr old Lefty hasn't forgotten that. I'm forever indebted to Albany State University, even if I didn't get my degrees from there.

A Past To Cherish, A Future To Fulfill!

Wow

 

[Lucky_Lefty]

Wow

Keep telling y'all, I've lived the life of a less retarded, Black version of Forrest Gump

 

[DropTopDoc]

Keep telling y'all, I've lived the life of a less retarded, Black version of Forrest Gump

Bruh you def got stories, glad we all part of the mob

 

[staticshock]

My 3rd favorite school in GA behind Morris Brown & Fort Valley



A young static was gonna go to Albany till Bama State swooped in at the last minute and gave me a bigger scholarship. All my HS friends went to Albany. I was supposed to be there with em but I paved my own lane. I was the only person from my school at Alabama State…I would have loved to be at Albany with my day 1s but I’m glad I made the decision I did.

I’ll never have anything bad to say bout Albany. The locals are cool as fukk too down there