women), and it awarded its first six bachelor's degrees in June 1876.
Atlanta University was among the first HBCUs to accept female students and the first to house women in a dormitory: its North Hall, built in 1869. One woman earned a bachelor's degree from Atlanta University between 1876 and 1895, but in the next five years, seven women received bachelor's degrees there. Atlanta University awarded bachelor's degrees 53 years (1876–1929) before exclusively offering graduate degrees.
A 1912 catalog shows that Atlanta University had four divisions: the college and the normal school, and each had a preparatory division. Enrollment that year was 403: 40 college students, 62 normal students, 115 high school students in the college prep program and 183 high school students in the normal program. At that time, half of the Atlanta University alumni were employed in teaching. There were a group of small Black colleges in Atlanta — Atlanta, Morehouse, Spelman, Clark, Morris Brown and Gammon — each guarding its independence …
