University of Alabama

By James A. Barham, PhD

In brief

The University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, was founded in 1820. It is organized into 13 academic divisions offering 117 areas of study. By our measure of academic influence, it ranks #92 in the United States and #263 in the world. It admitted 76.7% of applicants for fall 2024; admitted students had a median SAT score of 1285 and a median ACT score of 27.

Among its most popular degree programs are engineering and business, and its Bama By Distance program offers online degrees from the bachelor’s to the doctoral level.

Where Alabama’s influence is strongest

Alabama’s influence is led by history, social work, and law. Its strongest broad fields, by US rank in our data, are:

• History: #45 in the US (#126 in the world)
• Social work: #52
• Law: #56
• Business: #60
• Criminal justice: #63

Its highest-ranked specialties in our data are:

• #5 in the US: entomology and sociobiology, the field founded by its alumnus E.O. Wilson
• #10: evolutionary biology

By comparison, Alabama sits further back in chemistry (#134), economics (#136), and philosophy (#165).

How we measure influence: these ranks come from the citations and recognition earned by a school’s faculty and alumni in each discipline, not from surveys or admissions statistics. See our methodology.

Notable people

Alabama-connected figures include the biologist E.O. Wilson, the novelist Harper Lee, the physicist Robert Van de Graaff, the writer Gay Talese, the psychologist Timothy Leary, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, the actor Sela Ward, Justice Hugo Black, and Governor George C. Wallace. Our full lists of Alabama’s most influential alumni and faculty appear below.

Frequently asked questions

Is Alabama hard to get into? No. It admitted 76.7% of applicants for fall 2024; the middle half of admitted students scored 590–690 on the SAT reading section and 580–710 on math.

What does Alabama cost after financial aid? Tuition is $12,484 for Alabama residents and $35,342 for out-of-state students in 2025–26. The average net price for aided students with family incomes of $48,000–$75,000 was $17,545 in 2024–25; it ranged from about $17,442 for incomes of $30,000–$48,000 to $25,653 for incomes above $110,000.

How do Alabama graduates do? 73.7% of students who started in 2019 graduated within six years, and 89% of first-year students return for a second year. Ten years after starting college, former students had median earnings of $66,081.

What is Alabama best known for academically? By our influence data: history, social work, and law, plus entomology and sociobiology, where it ranks in the US top five.