SAT University Admissions Guide

Public school in Prairie View, Texas, United States of America

Founded in 1876 as Alta Vista Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Benefit of Colored Youth, PVAMU is one of Texas’s two land-grant universities and the second‑oldest public institution of higher learning in the state. Classified as an R2: Doctoral University with high research activity, PVAMU enrolls nearly 9,900 students in baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs across eight colleges and the School of Architecture. As the largest HBCU in Texas and a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the university fields 18 NCAA Division I teams—the Panthers and Lady Panthers—in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The 1,440‑acre rural main campus, known as “The Hill,” features the John B. Coleman Library, extensive agricultural research facilities, and branch sites in Houston’s Texas Medical Center. PVAMU’s reputation for producing African‑American architects and engineers was further bolstered by a $50 million gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in December 2020.