[10] With an enrollment of over 14,000 students, North Carolina A&T is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in the United States,[11] a position it has held since 2014.

[10][21] On March 9, 1891, the Agricultural and Mechanical College for the Colored Race was established by an Act of the North Carolina General Assembly as an annex of the private Shaw University in Raleigh.

[10] The Act read in part: "That the leading objective of the college shall be to teach practical agriculture and the mechanic arts and such learning as related thereto, not excluding academic and classical instruction."

With monetary and land donations totaling $11,000 and 14 acres (5.7 ha), the new Greensboro campus was established the following year and the college's first president, John Oliver Crosby, was elected on May 25, 1892.

Ezell Blair (Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond "sat in" at an all-white eating establishment (Woolworth's) and demanded equal service at the lunch counter.

The actions of the four freshmen gained momentum as other students of the college joined them in their non-violent protest to desegregate Woolworth's lunch counter, which became known as the Greensboro sit-ins.

The conflict, referred to as the 1969 Greensboro uprising, lasting May 21 through May 25, was sparked by perceived civil rights issues at the segregated high school, when a popular student council write-in presidential candidate was denied his landslide victory, allegedly because school officials feared his activism in the Black Power Movement.

Described at the time as "the most massive armed assault ever made against an American university," the uprising ended soon after the National Guard raided the 505-room male dormitory, W. Kerr Scott Hall, taking hundreds of students into protective custody.

[10] In 2003, N.C. A&T announced the creation of a Joint Millennial Campus, with neighboring UNC Greensboro, with the intent to focus on regional economic development.

[10] In 2011, Martin began implementation of "A&T Preeminence 2020," a groundbreaking strategic plan that set ambitious goals for the university in enrollment, research funding, diversity, academic quality and more.

In 2018, it became America's top-ranked public HBCU by U.S. News & World Report magazine[citation needed], and in 2019, it moved into the numerical rankings of national research universities for the first time in A&T's history.

[30] North Carolina A&T's main campus, often referred to as "Aggieland", is located approximately nine blocks east of downtown Greensboro, North Carolina, a city that supports a population of approximately 284,816[31] and is one of three principal cities that forms the Greensboro-Winston-Salem-High Point Combined Statistical Area (CSA), also referred to as the Piedmont Triad region.

The main entry point of the campus is located at the intersection of East Market street and North Benbow road.

Located inside the James B. Dudley Memorial Building, the University Galleries are home to the Mattye Reed African Heritage and the H. Clinton Taylor Collections.

The Proctor School of Education Building utilizes green roof technology in addition to other sustainable components aimed at reducing storm water runoff and energy demands for air conditioning in the summer months.

[53] Doctoral programs are offered through the CAES, CoE, CoST, The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering and The Graduate College.

[74] The four residential units within the complex are named for Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond; collectively known as the A&T Four and replaced the former W. Kerr Scott Hall which was ceremoniously demolished on July 11, 2004.

The six-story residence hall is named for Zoe Parks Barbee, one of the first African American commissioners of Guilford County, and houses 388 students.

[88][89] Today, WNAA is broadcast both over the air and on-line, serving the Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem metropolitan radio market.

Homecoming, which usually occurs in the month of October, coincides with a home football game, and festivities such as tailgating, class and departmental events, nightlife and social functions, musical and comedy concerts, pep rallies, student showcases, fraternity and sorority step shows, a parade, and the coronation of Mister and Miss North Carolina A&T, the university's Homecoming King and Queen.

[92] Based on crowd measures conducted by law enforcement, over 130,000 current students, alumni, family, and friends were in attendance at the 2024 Homecoming events.

[94] Notable speakers include Mary Elizabeth Carnegie,[95] distinguished educator and champion for the preservation of the history of African-American nurses; Frank Porter Graham,[96] former president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and senator; Donna Brazile,[97] political analyst and Vice Chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee; and First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.

The varsity teams participate in the NCAA Division I and are members of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) in all sports with the exception of women's bowling and football.

The term "Aggie" has long been used to refer to students who attend agricultural schools, hence the reason the university adopted the nickname at the time of its founding.

The A&T Four Middle College at NC A&T State University is an all-boys high school program housed in Hodgin Hall.

[46] They include NASA astronaut Ronald McNair who graduated magna cum laude from the university with a degree in engineering physics in 1971, and perished on the ill-fated Space Shuttle Challenger explosion.

N.C. A&T alumni have long been associated with political activism and civil rights, including Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond.

[111] A&T has also produced numerous business leaders, such as Janice Bryant Howroyd, founder and CEO of the ACT-1 Group, the nation's largest minority woman-owned human resources agency, with operations in 27 countries,[112] Hilda Pinnix-Ragland, the first African American woman vice president at Progress Energy Inc and Duke Energy, and Willie A. Deese, former president of global manufacturing for Merck.

N.C. A&T alumni have also excelled in professional sports, such as Al Attles, one of the first African American professional basketball coaches in the NBA and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball of Fame, NFL Hall of Fame inductee Elvin Bethea;[114] four-time Super Bowl champion, Dwaine Board, now a defensive line coach for the Seattle Seahawks,[115] and Brad Holmes, formerly defensive tackle for the Aggies, is General Manager of the Detroit Lions.

A&T alumnus Brandon Parker is a veteran offensive lineman for the Oakland Raiders, while Franklin McCain III and Darryl Johnson play for the Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks, respectively.