,·Private (Not-for-Profit) HBCU, AME Church-affiliated·Est. 1870
“A historic HBCU founded in 1870 by the AME Church to educate the formerly enslaved — today a UNCF-member liberal arts university with a deep civil-rights legacy.”
Allen University is a private, Christian, liberal-arts Historically Black College and University in Columbia, South Carolina, founded in 1870 by ministers of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church to educate formerly enslaved people and their descendants. Originally established as Payne Institute in Cokesbury, SC, the school relocated to Columbia in 1880 and was renamed in honor of Richard Allen, founder of the AME Church. Allen is a member of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees. The Allen campus carries extraordinary historical significance — the Allen University Historic District has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1975, and the Chappelle Administration Building is a National Historic Landmark. Chappelle Auditorium served as the meeting site where educators and lawyers helped initiate the legal effort that led to Brown v. Board of Education, and figures including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, and Mary McLeod Bethune have spoken there. With roughly 677 students, Allen offers an exceptionally personal academic experience — small class sizes, close mentoring relationships, and a tight-knit residential community housed in two newer living-learning halls (the Preston and Deloris Williams Residential Halls). Academics are organized into divisions covering Mathematics & Natural Sciences, Business/Education/Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities, and the Dickerson-Green Theological Seminary, plus newer master's programs in Business Administration, Sports Management, Environmental Science, Divinity, and Religion. Allen primarily serves first-generation and Pell-eligible students — over 80% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants and 91% receive grants or scholarships. The Yellow Jackets compete in NCAA Division II as members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), and the marching 'Band of Gold' is a centerpiece of campus tradition. For international students, Allen offers a small but growing community drawn from countries including Nigeria, Ghana, and the British Virgin Islands, supported by a dedicated PDSO and a non-renewable scholarship of up to $5,000/year for high-achieving applicants.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceFall Priority
Encouraged deadline for fall admission; late applications accepted on a space-available basis through registration close.
Spring Priority
Encouraged deadline for spring admission.
Presidential Scholarship
Required deadline to be considered for the full-ride Presidential Scholarship.
Health Form / Housing / Financial Aid
Final deadline for admitted students to submit health form, housing application, and complete financial-aid requirements.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$14,304
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Houses the Biology and Mathematics departments and offers concentrations geared toward pre-health, environmental science, and computer science. Strong pipeline into health-professions schools and a master's program in Environmental Science.
Allen's largest division, anchored by Business Administration — the university's most popular major — with concentrations in Accounting, Banking & Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Organizational Management. Also home to Sports Management (Allen's flagship master's program), Criminal Justice, Elementary Education, and Social Science.
Offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in English (Literature and Professional Writing concentrations), Music (Voice, Piano, Instrumental, Music Business), and General Studies. Music students often participate in the celebrated 'Band of Gold' marching band.
Allen's graduate seminary, opened in 2018, prepares the next generation of leaders for AME and other Christian communities. Offers the Master of Divinity, Master of Arts in Religion, and the Doctor of Ministry — making Allen one of the few HBCUs with a doctoral-level theology program.
4 years
Allen's most popular major, with concentrations in Accounting, Banking & Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Organizational Management. Small class sizes mean direct mentorship from faculty, and the program feeds the campus's MBA pathway.
2 years
Blends business fundamentals with sports-industry expertise — operations, marketing, finance, governance, and ethics. Anchored by Allen's NCAA Division II Yellow Jackets athletics program in the SIAC, which gives students hands-on access to a working collegiate athletic department.
3 years
Faith-anchored graduate study rooted in the AME tradition. Students engage deeply with theology while building practical skills for pastoral ministry, community leadership, and social justice work — a direct extension of Allen's founding mission.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $14,304
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
