City: Atlanta, GA

Category: Education

Telephone: (404) 681-3643

Address: 350 Spelman Lane SW

Description: Founded in 1881, Spelman College is one of the oldest U.S. institutions dedicated to the education of African-American women. Recent years have brought new recognition to the long-respected school: Spelman has repeatedly made the top 10 list of U.S. women’s colleges and the top 10 Southeast colleges in Money magazine’s “Best Buys” issue. U.S. News and World Report listed it as one its best colleges for 2010. Highly acclaimed Dr. Johnetta B. Cole, who declined an offer to serve as U.S. secretary of education for the first Clinton administration, resigned in June 1997 after 10 years at the helm. During Dr. Cole’s tenure, Oprah Winfrey donated $1 million to Spelman’s capital fund and praised “the extraordinary legacy of Spelman College and Dr. Johnetta Cole.” Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum is currently the president. Spelman has just more than 2,200 students and a student-faculty ratio of 12 to 1. More than 83 percent of full-time faculty have doctorate or other advanced degrees. Nearly half the students are engaged in some form of community service; 37 percent major in math or the natural sciences. Upon graduation, 45 percent of Spelman women continue their studies.