Prairie View A&M University
historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas, United States
Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black (HBCU) land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas, United States. Founded in 1876, it is the oldest public HBCU in Texas and the second oldest public institution of higher learning in the state. It offers baccalaureate degrees in 50 academic majors, 37 master's degrees and four doctoral degree programs through eight colleges and the School of Architecture. PVAMU is the largest HBCU in the state of Texas and the third largest HBCU in the United States. PVAMU is a member of the Texas A&M University System and Thurgood Marshall College Fund.
Prairie View A&M fields 18 intercollegiate sports teams, commonly known by their Prairie View A&M Panthers nickname. Prairie View A&M competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Prairie View A&M is the only charter member remaining in the conference.
History
The university was established as Alta Vista Agriculture & Mechanical College of Texas for Colored Youth The Sixteenth Legislature April 19, 1879 by Article 7 of the Texas Constitution of 1876, created near the end of the Reconstruction Era after the American Civil War. In that year, State Senator Matthew Gaines, State Senator Walter Moses Burton, and State Representative William H. Holland – all former slaves who became leading political figures – crafted legislation for the creation of a state-supported "Agricultural and Mechanical" college.
The public source identifies “Prairie View A&M University” as historically black university located in Prairie View, Texas, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Prairie, View and University.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3306469. Authority coordinates are 30.092, -95.989. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1876 and 1879.
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This entry incorporates text from “Prairie View A&M University” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.