Talking Points

Academic Success

  • A record-breaking number of in-state first-year students highlights The University of Alabama’s fall 2024 total enrollment of 40,846, surpassing 40,000 for the first time. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • UA’s unwavering commitment to student success led to the record-breaking enrollment, which includes 3,434 freshmen from Alabama, marking the largest number of in-state freshmen ever. This 7.9% increase in in-state first-year students is UA’s sixth consecutive year with an in-state increase. Second-year retention also reached an all-time high at nearly 90%. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • With students from all 67 Alabama counties, all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 95 countries, UA is educating and graduating more students than any college in the state, awarding more than 9,000 degrees over the past year. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • In-state student growth is outpacing the state’s population growth, increasing 4.7% overall and 7.9% among first-time undergraduates. First generation students among all undergraduates increased 9.8%. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • Graduate School enrollment jumped 5.4% with 6,001 students. The number of in-state graduate students increased 8.3%. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • The University has a record enrollment of 10,111 minority students, an 8.2% increase from 2023. (Date added: 9/13/24)
  • UA was named a Top Producing Institution of Fulbright U.S. Students, a distinction that UA has now earned eight times in the last 10 years.  (Date added: 2/25/25)
  • Sixty-nine students have been named Goldwater Scholars. (Date updated: 4/1/25)
  • UA has produced a total of 17 Rhodes Scholars, 16 Truman Scholars, 43 Hollings Scholars and 20 Boren Scholars. (Date updated: 11/18/24)
  • The Fulbright Program selected 14 UA students for various awards for the 2024-2025 academic year. (Date added: 5/23/24)

University Rankings and Impact

  • More than 1,500 people made gifts to UA during the eighth annual Bama Blitz fundraising campaign. (Date added: 4/23/25)
  • PRWeek listed the College of Communication and Information Sciences’ public relations program among the top five in the nation for the 11th time.
  • The journalism and creative media program ranks No. 15 among 2024 Top Winning Film and Video Programs by Broadcast Education Association.
  • U.S. News and World Report ranked the School of Law No. 12 among public universities on its list of Best Law Schools. The law school also ranked No. 5 among public universities for Law Schools with the Most Graduates in Federal Clerkships. (Date added: 4/8/25)
  • U.S. News and World Report ranked the UA Manderson Graduate School MBA Program is ranked No. 27 among public business schools on the list of best business graduate schools. (Date added: 4/8/25)
  • The library and information studies program ranks No. 21 on U.S. News and World Report’s list of the Best Library and Information Studies Programs. (Date added: 4/8/25)
  • UA is among eight universities in the nation and the only flagship public university to receive an A rating on the Anti-Defamation League’s 2025 Campus Antisemitism Report Card. (Date added: 3/4/25)
  • The Princeton Review listed UA among its Best Online Masters of Public Health for 2025. (Date added: 2/12/25)
  • The Capstone College of Nursing boasts a 100% National Council Licensure Examination pass rate among its 2024 graduates, as reported by the Alabama Board of Nursing. (Date added: 2/5/25)
  • UA appeared on 14 U.S. News and World Report lists ranking the Best Online Programs. UA ranked in the top 10 of the Best Online Master’s in Nursing Programs for Veterans (No. 2), Best Online Bachelor’s in Business Programs (No. 5), Best Online Master’s in Nursing Programs (No. 6), Best Online Master’s in Nursing Administration Programs (No. 7) and Best Online Master’s in Nursing Education Programs (No. 7). (Date added: 1/21/25)
  • UA made TIME magazine’s list of Best Colleges for Future Leaders 2025. (Date added: 11/21/24)
  • UA is listed among Fortune magazine’s Best MBA Programs for 2025. (Date added: 11/20/24)
  • UA achieved another record-breaking year in fundraising for the fiscal year, with more than $261 million in charitable gifts and pledges from over 60,000 donors. (Date added: 10/24/24)
  • The UA Capstone College of Nursing ranks No. 26 on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programs. (Date added: 9/24/24)
  • The UA Culverhouse College of Business is ranked No. 31 among public universities on U.S. News and World Report’s list of Best Undergraduate Business Programs. (Date added: 9/24/24)
  • Fortune magazine ranks the Manderson Graduate School of Business MBA program No. 29 among public universities. (Date added: 9/10/24)
  • UA made Forbes’ lists of Best Employers for New Grads 2024, America’s Best-In-State Employers 2024 and America's Top Colleges 2023. (Date updated: 8/20/24)
  • Travel + Leisure named Tuscaloosa among its 25 Best College Towns and Cities in the U.S. (Date added: 6/4/24)
  • UA ranks in the top 2.4% out of 20,966 universities worldwide in the 2024 Global 2000 list by the Center for World University Rankings. (Date added: 5/15/24)
  • UA was listed among the Best Value Colleges by The Princeton Review. (Date added: 5/9/24)
  • The UA School of Social Work master's program ranks No. 17 among public universities on U.S. News and World Report's list of Best Schools for Social Work as part of its Best Graduate Schools rankings. (Date added: 4/9/24)
  • Total statewide economic impact of UA: $3.333 billion; 14,505 jobs; and $151.6 million in income and sales taxes, according to 2022-2023 Economic Impacts of UA. (Date added: 2/10/25)

Facility Excellence and Expansion

  • UA was recognized as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation for the 10th consecutive year. (Date added: 4/1/25)
  • The UA Board of Trustees gave final approval for the plans to build the new High Performance Computing and Data Center on the eastern edge of campus. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2026. (Date added: 11/12/24)
  • The College of Communication and Information Sciences unveiled the Holle Center for Communication Arts, an incubator and collaborative space for modern storytelling. (Date added: 9/25/24)
  • The U.S. Geological Survey opened the USGS Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility on the UA campus near the NOAA National Water Center, providing a trifecta of opportunity for advancing water science and technology. (Date added: 8/14/24)
  • UA and Invited reopened the historic University Club after a more than $17 million renovation. (Date added: 5/20/24)
  • UA opened the Shelby Institute for Policy and Leadership, a student-focused academic and service program concentrating on educating and training students interested in policy. (Date added: 4/26/24)

Research Success

  • UA was again listed among the National Academy of Inventors' Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents. (Date added: 4/17/25)
  • Dr. M.N.V. Ravi Kumar was selected as UA’s recipient of the 2025 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. (Date added: 2/24/25)
  • The UA research enterprise marked 10 years of continuous growth in fiscal year 2024, with gains in overall funding, new awards and the number of proposals submitted. New awards classified as research grew by nearly 21% compared to the previous fiscal year. In total, the University received $269.9 million in sponsored awards, marking an all-time high in external funding. (Date added: 12/17/24)
  • UA’s Global Water Security Center will receive $11.5 million in funding over the next two years from the U.S.Department of Defense to enhance its crucial work that supports national security. The funds will support the center’s analysis of global environmental factors affecting politics and security. (Date added: 10/10/24)
  • Dr. Sergei Gleyzer was elected a 2024 fellow of the American Physical Society. (Date added: 10/8/24)
  • UA researchers are upcycling agricultural and industrial waste into affordable and greener construction materialsthrough a $6 million grant through the NSF EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement-Focused EPSCoR Collaborations Program focused on building climate resilience and strengthening STEM education in regions that have traditionally received less funding. (Date added: 10/2/24)
  • Dr. M.N.V. Ravi Kumar was awarded the 2024 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists Global Leader Award which celebrates scientists who are role models in the pharmaceutical science community. (Date added: 8/13/24)
  • UA researchers will develop and test a novel diesel-engine technology in collaboration with the Alabama Port Authority to reduce idle emissions, save on operating costs, and improve efficiency in diesel trucks with the support of a $4 million grant from the United States Department of Transportation. (Date added: 8/1/24)
  • Drs. Nilesh Kumar, Mizan Rahman, Tibor Szilvasi and Shunqiao Sun, received National Science Foundation CAREER Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious recognitions of top-performing young scientists. (Date added: 6/6/24)
  • Three faculty and staff members received Fulbright awards for educators to teach and research around the globe. (Date added: 6/6/24)
  • With a grant from the Federal Transit Administration and the United States Department of Transportation, UA is gearing up for a $3 million project to develop advanced driver assistance systems for large transit buses. (Date added: 6/3/24)
  • Forty current UA faculty have received NSF CAREER Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious recognitions of top-performing young scientists, in disciplines ranging from nanoscience and engineering to biological sciences. (Date added: 7/22/24)
  • The Carnegie Foundation lists The University of Alabama among the top doctoral research universities in the United States. UA is included among R1: Very High Spending and Doctorate Production status in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. (Date updated: 2/17/25)

Student Success

  • Ian Brunetz, Emily Gokie, Gabrielle Kowkabany and Blake Yuenger were selected as Goldwater Scholars for 2025-2026. (Date added: 4/1/25)
  • UA Miracle raised $223,725 for Children’s of Alabama during its latest annual fundraising efforts. (Date added: 2/17/25)
  • UA students raised 431,120 pounds of food during the 31st annual Beat Auburn Beat Hunger food drive. (Date added: 11/22/24)
  • Kate Herndon was among 32 in the nation to receive the Rhodes Scholarship, the most prestigious academic award for American college graduates and the oldest award for international study. (Date added: 11/18/24)
  • Sean Coffman Atchison, a May 2024 graduate, has been named a Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellow. (Date added: 9/26/24)
  • UA’s McCollough Institute for Pre-Medical Scholars program once again celebrated a class earning 100% acceptance rate for medical and graduate school. (Date added: 9/24/24)
  • John Richardson, a May 2024 graduate, was one of four in the nation to be named an Eisenhower Global Scholar. (Date added: 6/11/24)
  • The UA Astrobotics team earned a ninth win in NASA’s Lunabotics Challenge, a robotic mining competition held in a simulated lunar environment. (Date added: 6/3/24)
  • UA students Raeed Kabir and Blake Yuenger are the recipients of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. (Date added: 5/24/24)
  • Benjamin Trost was among 55 college students from around the nation to receive the Udall Undergraduate Scholarship which identifies future leaders in environmental, tribal public policy and health care fields. (Date added: 5/7/24)
  • Aparna Bhooshanan, Hari Gunda and Madeleine Luther received Boren Scholarships for the study of languages in world regions critical to U.S. interests and underrepresented in study abroad. (Date added: 4/24/24)