Small colleges in Alabama are a great option for students interested in a more intimate campus experience, more personal attention from excellent professors, and more immediate access to support services. Whether the focus is on the technical or on the liberal arts, small colleges give you the chance to pursue a well-rounded education while working closely with classmates and professors in a dynamic community atmosphere.
The 54 colleges and universities in Alabama allow students to pursue associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in many fields all over the state. Some of the most notable degree areas include law, nursing, biology, history, engineering, and religious studies.
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Students hoping to obtain a four-year degree at a larger university can attend one of the two largest — as well as rivalry — schools, the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Both schools’ tuition is about $11,000, though the University of Alabama’s student population, at nearly 36,000 students, is larger than Auburn’s. Students also have the option of attending one of Alabama’s 18 private higher education institutes, many of which have religious affiliations. Tuition costs and student populations range greatly among these schools, from $36,000 to $4,000 and nearly 15,000 students to less than 100, letting students factor in their budget with their class size demands.
Additionally, students who need more flexibility can take advantage of the satellite campuses, like at the University of North Alabama, or the 70 online degree programs offered at the University of Alabama, to easily obtain their degrees. For more information on higher education in Alabama, check out some of the state’s top programs and their corresponding career paths.
For die-hard football fans and lovers of sweet tea, obtaining a higher education degree in Alabama can seem like an obvious choice. The Yellowhammer State, however, is also home to a unique mixture of coastal, mountainous, and swamp environments, making it a great choice for students who love soaking up the outdoors.
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The following list of the best small colleges and universities in Alabama is composed mainly of four-year undergraduate schools (though a handful also offer graduate programs). We’ve identified a total of 18 small colleges in Alabama that satisfy the following three conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why, at the undergraduate level, we rank the best colleges and universities based on what we call “Concentrated Influence”. Concentrated Influence takes the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers (including faculty and alums) and divides it by the school’s total number of undergraduates.
Using concentrated influence gives small and mid-sized schools an opportunity to shine by taking away the size advantage of larger universities. A small school with proportionately more influential faculty than a large school, whose influence in absolute terms may be bigger, will nonetheless score higher in a concentrated influence ranking. Our approach highlights undergraduate schools that truly rank for excellence, regardless of size.
If you are serious about finding the best colleges and universities for a bachelor’s degree, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching and whether their graduates are themselves advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence.
Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Concentrated Influence provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our ranking methodology here.
Less Tuition + fees
$23K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
52%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
989/20
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Tuskegee University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$18K
Acceptance
60%
Graduation
71%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1210/25
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Birmingham–Southern College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$33K
Acceptance
84%
Graduation
77%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1160/26
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Samford University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$26K
Acceptance
54%
Graduation
42%
Student body
<1K
Median SAT/ACT
1107/20
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Huntingdon College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$41K
Acceptance
54%
Graduation
57%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1112/22
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Spring Hill College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Graduation
30%
Student body
1K
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Talladega College’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$20K
Acceptance
89%
Graduation
50%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
980/19
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Oakwood University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$14K
Acceptance
61%
Graduation
54%
Student body
2K
Median SAT/ACT
1135/22
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University of Montevallo’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$19K
Acceptance
56%
Graduation
48%
Student body
<1K
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Judson College ’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$24K
Acceptance
67%
Graduation
49%
Student body
1K
Median SAT/ACT
1085/23
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University of Mobile’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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