My neighbors in Columbus, Ohio may be scratching their heads at the site of Alabama Crimson Tide signs on the lawns of graduating seniors. It certainly seems like there have been more of these cropping up in the past few years. If you feel this way, you are not wrong. The University of Alabama has made a concerted effort to increase recruitment of out-of-state students and now has 60% of its undergraduate student population coming from states outside of Alabama. Here are 5 fun facts about the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa:
1) Each incoming class pledges to uphold the Capstone Creed at convocation: "As a member of The University of Alabama community, I will pursue knowledge, act with fairness, integrity and respect; promote equity and inclusion; foster individual and civic responsibility; and strive for excellence in all I do."
2) The College of Communication and Information Sciences is recognized as a top communications school nationally. The university's student-run integrated communications firm, the Capstone Agency, was awarded best student-run firm by the Public Relations Student Society of America for the third time in 2020.
3) If you haven't heard of Nick Saban, you most definitely are not a college football fan. Saban is the coach with the most college football national championships and six of them have been during his tenure at Alabama. The Crimson Tide are well-known for big-time athletics, which are definitely a huge draw to the university. They happen to also be the only major university with an elephant for a mascot. Did you know, though, that University of Alabama is one of only 12 universities that sponsors wheelchair athletics and is the only one to do so in the Southeastern United States?
4) Students who are looking for access to big fun at a big school, yet are also looking to connect with fellow students in a more intimate and intellectually stimulating way should consider applying to the Blount Scholars Program. Each year about 100 students are selected to join this honors living-learning community which offers smaller classes, closer interaction with faculty, a special liberal arts minor, and access to exclusive programming and support.
5) If you are looking for a university with an active social scene, you won't go wrong here. The Greek system is one of the biggest in the country with 32% of male freshmen and 51% of female freshmen joining fraternities and sororities. UA has 66 social Greek-letter organizations!
University of Alabama is quite generous with scholarships, particularly for out-of-state students. Curious about what kind of award you might qualify to receive? Check out their automatic merit scholarships here.
Freshman admission requirements can be found here. Learn more about UA through a visit opportunity here.
Roll Tide!