The Atlanta University Center is the largest consortium of historically Black colleges and universities in the country. Spelman College, Morehouse College, Clark Atlanta University, Morris Brown College and the Interdenominational Theological Center share a campus district west of downtown, along with a shared library and cross-registration between schools.

What the campuses mean to the city

The AUC is an employer, a landlord, a customer and a talent pipeline. Its graduates move into Atlanta's hospitals, city government, schools, law firms, film production and technology companies at a rate that no other region can match, and the schools' alumni networks reach into nearly every Black institution in the city. National studies of HBCUs find that they generate billions in economic output and support tens of thousands of jobs, while producing a disproportionate share of Black graduates in fields like engineering, the health professions and education.

The pressure

Enrollment dropped across many HBCUs after the 2008 recession and has been recovering unevenly, and the schools compete for the same students as larger public universities. Capital campaigns, corporate partnerships and retention work are now the difference between holding the district's footprint and shrinking it.