Huston-Tillotson University is Our May 2019 School of the Month

About Huston-Tillotson University:

Huston-Tillotson University, founded in 1875, is the first institution of higher learning and the only Historically Black College and University located in Austin, Texas.

The private school is made up of Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College. Built by the United Church of Christ, in 1877 the school was chartered as Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute. By 1909, the school was renamed as Tillotson College. Moving and progressing as a junior teacher college, to a women’s college, to a senior co-educational institution.

The other college began in Dallas, Texas with the help of the church and underwent many changes before moving to Austin, Texas. In 1887, Samuel Huston, a farmer from Iowa, donated property to settle the school under his name. For years Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College participated in friendly rivalry in sports and activities all while significantly contributing to the social and civic life of Austin’s black citizens. The two schools shared mutual interests and religious values.

In order to lift the burden of lack of financial resources, the two merged in 1952 under the motto, “In union, strength”. The joint college was the sole provider of African-American higher education in Central Education until the desegregation case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954). On February 28, 2005, the school officially changed its name to Huston-Tillotson University.

Today the university is ranked in the top 100 HBCUs in this country. HT is a close-knit school that offers alternative teacher certification and academic programs for undergraduates interested in pursuing post-graduate degrees in law and medicine. They are home to the Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) as well as Male Achievement & Persistence (MAP) and Women Advancing in Leadership & Knowledge (WALK) programs. In 2015, they appointed their first woman president, Dr. Colette Burnette.