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BRIEF HISTORY OF UA

Entering a New Millennium

In 2000, the AIME Building, a 50,000-square-foot facility dedicated to improving manufacturing processes, was completed. That same year, construction began on Shelby Hall, a 200,000-square-foot interdisciplinary science complex that includes a three-story teaching wing and a four-story research wing. Shelby Hall is scheduled for completion in November 2003. University enrollment stood at 19,171 in 2001; 2,592 of those students were African-Americans.

Today, The University of Alabama has become a major, student-centered research university with emphasis on excellent classroom instruction and meaningful outreach. The University's 11 degree-conferring colleges and schools offer 220 accredited graduate and undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 fields of study. Students may participate in a number of special academic programs, including the University Honors Program (est. 1986), the Computer-Based Honors Program (est. 1968), the International Honors Program (est. 1998), and the Blount Undergraduate Initiative, a liberal arts, living-learning program that was established in 1996 and accepted its first freshman class in 1999.

19,633 students enrolled at the University in fall 2002 — seventy-five percent of these students came from the state of Alabama. International students make up about 5 percent of the University's total enrollment, out-of-state students 20 percent. Approximately 13 percent of University students are African-Americans — including 14.3 percent of undergraduates.

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