Morgan state University opened in 1867 as the Centenary Biblical Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. The institute’s role was to train men for ministry, but it opened up admission to women and remains coeducational today. It was renamed in 1890 to honour the Reverend Lyttleton Morgan, a travelling preacher who was the school’s first chairman.

Morgan State became a public institution in 1939. However, it is not owned by Maryland State. Instead, it runs independently, governed by its own Board of Regents.

Morgan State University has one of the most comprehensive academic offers of any historically black educational institution in the United States. It has eleven academic divisions: Liberal Arts, Business and Management, Education and Urban Studies, Engineering, Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Graduate Studies, Architecture and Planning, Community Health and Policy, Social Work, Global Journalism and Communication and the Honors College.

The university’s Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory provides environmental students with lab and field research experience. The institute’s mission is to carry out research into solutions for society’s environmental problems.

The university has a history of sporting excellence, particularly in football, producing numerous top players. It was the first historically black university to field a lacrosse team. Athletic teams compete under the name Bears in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.

One of the best-known elements of Morgan State is the University Choir, who have travelled around the world and made several televised performances. The choir performs with more orchestras annually than any other university choir.