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 21 Boren Scholars. (Date updated: 5/15/25)
  • 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

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)

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