Clark Atlanta University (CAU)

Clark Atlanta University in Georgia is the largest school in the 4-member Atlanta University Center Consortium, as well as the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions. The school offers forty areas of study across four schools, and is the only private, independent graduate research HBCU, with the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity acting as a hub for research opportunities and coordinating funding for students to travel and share their findings. Research and faculty-student mentor relationships are a strategic priority of the university, with the most popular degrees coming out of the business administration, mass media arts, and biology programs. The General Education requirement at CU is designed to create well-rounded students with transferable skills, and it includes competencies in critical and ethical thinking, global awareness, and computer and information technology; understanding of these requirements is regulated through the Six-Step Annual Assessment and Improvement Process. Global perspectives are also imparted through the Office of International Programs, which encourages students to take part in the many study abroad programs available through the university.

Although "primarily African-American," the CAU student body also includes "students from different orientations here: Asian, white, Hispanic." Students tend to be "goal-oriented," "headstrong," and "involved in various activities," to the point that they "love to be seen and want to be in the middle of everything." Most are committed to success in academics "but usually will not do more than what is expected of them." They want to enjoy the entire college experience by "striking a balance between the academic and the social," and they appreciate their access to "Atlanta and its party scene."

Life on and around the CAU campus includes a lot of options, ranging from "hands-on experience such as clubs and organizations" "that actually take part in organizing and make efforts to serve the community" to "parties every week, movies playing in the student center, plenty of shopping malls to go to," and guest lectures. And, of course, there's also Atlanta, the South's major metropolis and home to a near-endless selection of restaurants, nightclubs, museums, sporting events, and outdoor activities. The variety of choices means students can be "very spirited in every area from sports to bookwork," and most are. On the downside, students complain that facilities can be spotty ("the residential life department really needs to revamp its efforts") and that campus safety could improve.