HBCU websites: readability rankings

Readability scores, grades, and the most common failures for 95 HBCU websites, from ScanGov homepage scans.

  • Sites: 95
  • Last scan: 11/8/2026

Showing HBCU sites. All education sites

Historically Black colleges and universities, as designated in IPEDS.

F 36

Average readability score of 80 fully scanned HBCU sites

7th

of 9 lists, ranked by average readability score

80 of 95

Hbcu sites fully scanned. We couldn't fully scan 15, so they're listed without grades

F 56

Average readability score of all 2,687 fully scanned education sites

How HBCUs readability scores are distributed

Smoothed distribution of the 80 fully scanned HBCU sites, score 0 to 100. Height shows how many sites score near each value.

  • HBCUs average
  • All education average
View the data table
Score rangeSites
0 to 949
10 to 190
20 to 290
30 to 390
40 to 490
50 to 590
60 to 690
70 to 790
80 to 890
90 to 10027

HBCUs by readability grade, compared with all education sites

Share of fully scanned sites in each grade band. HBCUs: 80 sites. All education: 2687 sites.

  1. HBCUs
  2. All education sites
  • A (90 to 100)
  • B to C (70 to 89)
  • D to F (below 70)
View the data table
GroupA (90 to 100)B to C (70 to 89)D to F (below 70)
HBCUs34% (27)0% (0)61% (49)
All education sites53% (1,425)0% (0)41% (1,110)

Top 3 HBCU sites by readability score

#1 in HBCUs · U.S. education rank 1

Albany State University

A 100 readability

  • Accessibility A
  • Botability A
  • Security C
  • Usability F
  • Readability A

#1 in HBCUs · U.S. education rank 1

Allen University

A 100 readability

  • Accessibility A
  • Botability A
  • Security B
  • Usability B
  • Readability A

#1 in HBCUs · U.S. education rank 1

Bowie State University

A 100 readability

  • Accessibility A
  • Botability A
  • Security A
  • Usability B
  • Readability A

Most common readability failures among HBCU sites

Share of the 80 fully scanned HBCU sites failing each check. A site can fail more than one check. Each check links to the sites failing it, or to its standard when we have no list yet.

  1. Reading level61%
View the data table
CheckShare failingSites failing
Reading level61%49

What each check means

  • Reading level. Page text reads at or below a 7th grade level so most users can understand it. Users struggle to understand your content.

Every education site with one problem

HBCUs by readability score

Rank Site Checks passed Grade
1 asurams.edu
Albany State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 allenuniversity.edu
Allen University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 bowiestate.edu
Bowie State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 centralstate.edu
Central State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 cheyney.edu
Cheyney University of Pennsylvania U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 coppin.edu
Coppin State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 denmarktech.edu
Denmark Technical College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 ecsu.edu
Elizabeth City State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 fisk.edu
Fisk University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 famu.edu
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 gadsdenstate.edu
Gadsden State Community College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 drakestate.edu
J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 jsums.edu
Jackson State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 lanecollege.edu
Lane College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 langston.edu
Langston University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 lawsonstate.edu
Lawson State Community College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 loc.edu
Le Moyne-Owen College U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 lincolnu.edu
Lincoln University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 nsu.edu
Norfolk State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 ncat.edu
North Carolina A & T State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 nccu.edu
North Carolina Central University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 scsu.edu
South Carolina State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 tsu.edu
Texas Southern University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 uapb.edu
University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 uvi.edu
University of the Virgin Islands U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 wvstateu.edu
West Virginia State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
1 wssu.edu
Winston-Salem State University U.S. rank 1 		1 of 1 checks pass A
2 alasu.edu
Alabama State University U.S. rank 48 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 alcorn.edu
Alcorn State University U.S. rank 84 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 abcnash.edu
American Baptist College U.S. rank 102 		0 of 1 checks pass F
6 arkansasbaptist.edu
Arkansas Baptist College U.S. rank 192 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 benedict.edu
Benedict College U.S. rank 102 		0 of 1 checks pass F
8 cookman.edu
Bethune-Cookman University U.S. rank 210 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 bluefieldstate.edu
Bluefield State University U.S. rank 40 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 claflin.edu
Claflin University U.S. rank 24 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 cau.edu
Clark Atlanta University U.S. rank 140 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 desu.edu
Delaware State University U.S. rank 84 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 dillard.edu
Dillard University U.S. rank 58 		0 of 1 checks pass F
10 uncfsu.edu
Fayetteville State University U.S. rank 228 		0 of 1 checks pass F
10 fmuniv.edu
Florida Memorial University U.S. rank 238 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 fvsu.edu
Fort Valley State University U.S. rank 40 		0 of 1 checks pass F
8 gram.edu
Grambling State University U.S. rank 206 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 trenholmstate.edu
H Councill Trenholm State Community College U.S. rank 86 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 home.hamptonu.edu
Hampton University U.S. rank 48 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 howard.edu
Howard University U.S. rank 96 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 htu.edu
Huston-Tillotson University U.S. rank 142 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 jarvis.edu
Jarvis Christian University U.S. rank 162 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 jcsu.edu
Johnson C Smith University U.S. rank 184 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 kysu.edu
Kentucky State University U.S. rank 184 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 lincoln.edu
Lincoln University U.S. rank 112 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 miles.edu
Miles College U.S. rank 176 		0 of 1 checks pass F
6 mvsu.edu
Mississippi Valley State University U.S. rank 202 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 morehouse.edu
Morehouse College U.S. rank 62 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 morgan.edu
Morgan State University U.S. rank 84 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 morrisbrown.edu
Morris Brown College U.S. rank 140 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 paine.edu
Paine College U.S. rank 56 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 paulquinn.edu
Paul Quinn College U.S. rank 16 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 philander.edu
Philander Smith University U.S. rank 134 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 st-aug.edu
Saint Augustine's University U.S. rank 76 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 savannahstate.edu
Savannah State University U.S. rank 4 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 selmau.edu
Selma University U.S. rank 36 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 shawu.edu
Shaw University U.S. rank 18 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 shortercollege.edu
Shorter College U.S. rank 152 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 simmonscollegeky.edu
Simmons College of Kentucky U.S. rank 162 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 swcc.edu
Southwestern Christian College U.S. rank 184 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 spelman.edu
Spelman College U.S. rank 126 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 stillman.edu
Stillman College U.S. rank 126 		0 of 1 checks pass F
8 talladega.edu
Talladega College U.S. rank 218 		0 of 1 checks pass F
10 texascollege.edu
Texas College U.S. rank 254 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 tuskegee.edu
Tuskegee University U.S. rank 138 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 udc.edu
University of the District of Columbia U.S. rank 98 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 vsu.edu
Virginia State University U.S. rank 40 		0 of 1 checks pass F
8 wp.vul.edu
Virginia University of Lynchburg U.S. rank 210 		0 of 1 checks pass F
4 voorhees.edu
Voorhees University U.S. rank 160 		0 of 1 checks pass F
2 wileyc.edu
Wiley University U.S. rank 52 		0 of 1 checks pass F
10 xula.edu
Xavier University of Louisiana U.S. rank 228 		0 of 1 checks pass F
aamu.edu
Alabama A & M University 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't fully scan your site because it responded without any page content. Status 995 -
bennett.edu
Bennett College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 999 -
3 bishop.edu
Bishop State Community College U.S. rank 143 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We were able to fully scan your site. Status 200 -
coahomacc.edu
Coahoma Community College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 404 -
hssu.edu
Harris-Stowe State University 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't fully scan your site because it responded without any page content. Status 995 -
itc.edu
Interdenominational Theological Center 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't scan your site because it showed our bot a captcha or browser check instead of the page. Status 996 -
livingstone.edu
Livingstone College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 999 -
5 msm.edu
Morehouse School of Medicine U.S. rank 187 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We were able to fully scan your site. Status 200 -
morris.edu
Morris College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't fully scan your site because it responded without any page content. Status 995 -
pvamu.edu
Prairie View A & M University 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We didn't scan your site because its robots.txt asks crawlers to wait longer than we can. Status 997 -
rustcollege.edu
Rust College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 999 -
subr.edu
Southern University and A & M College 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 403 -
suno.edu
Southern University at New Orleans 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 403 -
sulc.edu
Southern University Law Center 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 403 -
tnstate.edu
Tennessee State University 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We couldn't scan your site because it showed our bot a captcha or browser check instead of the page. Status 996 -
7 tougaloo.edu
Tougaloo College U.S. rank 205 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We were able to fully scan your site. Status 200 -
umes.edu
University of Maryland Eastern Shore 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 403 -
9 vuu.edu
Virginia Union University U.S. rank 225 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We were able to fully scan your site. Status 200 -
wilberforce.edu
Wilberforce University 		Not fully scanned, so not graded. We weren't able to fully scan your site. Status 999 -

About this data

ScanGov scans the homepage of each college and university site on our higher education list. Scores come from the checks in the ScanGov standards. Sites were scanned between 10/27/2026 and 11/8/2026. Each site's report shows its own scan date. A site counts as fully scanned when its homepage loaded and sent us its page content. Averages, grade shares, failure rates, and ranks use fully scanned sites only. We could not fully scan 15 sites. They did not respond, blocked the scanner, or sent no page content. They appear in the table without grades, with their scan status, and are left out of every figure. Grades follow the ScanGov grade scale. Rank follows the ScanGov ranking method. The full dataset, with every county's raw results, is in the ScanGov data repository.

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