Kamala Harris will spend election night at Howard University, her alma mater and a historically black university in Washington DC.

The Democratic presidential nominee graduated from Howard in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in political science and economics.

She has maintained close ties with the school and has often described her four years there as the most formative of her life.

Howard's president, Ben Vinson, said that it was the first time in modern history that the college campus had hosted a presidential election watch party.

Mr Vinson said the university was already "incredibly proud" that the first woman of colour to serve as vice president was among its alumni.

"We are also honoured that she has chosen Howard as the place to potentially make history again."

Classes were cancelled on Tuesday to give students the best opportunity to vote.

Founded in 1867 and nicknamed "The Mecca", Howard is one of the largest, and most academically rigorous, historically black universities in the country.

It produces more black PhD recipients than any other university in the country and currently serves about 11,000 students.

Former Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, civil rights leader Stokely Carmichael and actor Chadwick Boseman are also among its alumni.

In her memoir The Truths We Hold, Harris described it as a place where "you could come as you were and leave as the person you aspired to be".

At Howard, she pledged to Alpha Kappa Alpha, the oldest black sorority in the US.

AKA and other black sorority members form a tight-knit national network that helped boost Harris's presidential bids this year and in 2019.