Xavier University To Become 5th HBCU With Medical School

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As HBCUs continue to get the respect (and funding) they deserve, the schools are still hitting many first-time milestones.

That now includes Xavier University of Louisiana which has just inked an agreement with Ochsner Health to establish a medical school.

The number of HBCUs with medical schools has been slowly growing, making Xavier only the fifth HBCU. This history-making feat comes only behind Howard University College of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, and Morgan State, which is also in the process of setting one up.

However, if you’re looking to attend Xavier’s med school, you won’t be able to enroll anytime soon. The Associated Press reports that the accreditation process takes around three years to complete, and the initial cohort will only have about 50 students.

It’s already been a lengthy timeline for establishing the school as it was first announced in 2022, and the agreement with Ochsner saw more movement in 2023. Then, the Xavier University of Louisiana Board of Trustees and the Ochsner Health Board of Directors voted to approve the formation of the new medical school this past February.

Next year will be Xavier’s 100th anniversary, and during its tenure, it’s been a great advocate for being a stepping stone to getting African Americans into med school through its top-notch science programs. Now that it can keep some of the talent on its own campus, Xavier President Reynold Verret is ready to help make becoming a doctor more feasible for Black Americans.

“With the establishment of the Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine, Ochsner and Xavier aim to address long-standing health disparities and foster stronger, healthier communities in pursuit of the mission to promote a more just and humane society gifted to Xavier nearly 100 years ago by our foundress, St. Katharine Drexel and her Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament,” Verret said in a press release.

See how hype social media is about Xavier’s new beginnings below.