<p>Yes, mikemac, it did come as a rather large surprise. I'm faced with a choice of taking on quite a bit of debt at Columbia or getting a free ride at Alabama for my undergraduate work and I didn't want to take on too much undergrad debt because I am planning on going on to get my Ph.D. and I assumed that grad school would be pretty expensive. It's very good to know that I'll be able to work it off while I'm there; thanks for all of the responses.</p>