Talladega College is Alabama's first private historically black liberal arts college, founded in 1867 by William Savery and Thomas Tarrant, both formerly enslaved people. Located in Talladega in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the college operates across 50 acres with 44 buildings, serving over 1,300 undergraduate students through 17 degree programs grounded in liberal arts education.
The institution is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACSCOC) and has been recognized by Princeton Review as among the best colleges in the Southeast, while also appearing in U.S. News & World Report rankings of top national liberal arts colleges and HBCUs, as well as Kiplinger's list of best value colleges. The campus contains several historically significant structures, including Swayne Hall (1852), the original schoolhouse; DeForest Chapel (1903), which houses stained-glass windows by David C. Driskell; and Savery Library (1939), the original home of the Amistad Murals by Hale Woodruff.
The college's educational approach emphasizes mentoring relationships between faculty and students alongside academic excellence, moral values, and community engagement. The institution commits to developing students' ethical behaviour and fostering responsibility to both local and global communities, grounded in a mission to educate and nurture the whole person.