It’s slightly larger than others we’re looking at, but otherwise, seems to hit the bulletpoints (merit aid gets the COA down to reasonable level, warmer than Minnesota, residential campus). I see they’ve had sustained period of considerable growth but with a very slight decrease in enrollment last year (~0.5%). Is this just a blip?
A lot of people on CC love Alabama, so they can provide firsthand knowledge.
My child didn’t consider because of the large presence of Greek life.
The most interesting stat I saw when researching was the 60% out of state enrollment number. Very high for state flagship.
The best thing to do is go for a campus visit and spend some time talking to the departments your student is looking at for a major. Alabama was always an option because the cost was favorable, but the campus, programs, faculty and support provided there really blew us away. Every other school had to beat Alabama after that. My son is very excited about starting there this fall.
Greek life is big, but I noticed it seemed far more intense for the girls. Only 27% of guys are in fraternities, but 35% of students overall are in Greek life. My son isn’t interested in rushing, and he found plenty of others at his orientation who were also disinterested. There are loads of other activities and groups to join.
My oldest graduated last year with an
Engineering degree.
He was NOT Greek. Not religious or Southern. He came from a very small private high school and never thought he’d like a large university, but he loved that he could hide in large classes while also taking small Honors courses.
As a parent of 3, I can say without a doubt, Bama’s administration was the easiest school to deal with.
The campus is immaculate.
Honestly, we would not have chosen if we were full pay out of State, but with the scholarships it was an easy choice.
My son did research as a freshman, completed a short internship and 3 semesters of co-OP. In between he traveled to Peru with a Bama Group and spent a summer studying in Chile.
The Presidential Scholarship is a little less generous than it was a couple of years ago. It’s now $26,000 per year while OOS tuition is $29,230 (and probably rising), so that might explain a slight drop in enrollment. UA is likely going to attract a few less OOS students than in the past. It’s still a very generous scholarship.
My son attends Alabama on the tuition-free version of the Presidential and he has been very happy with his choice.
College enrollment is falling all over the country with fewer HS students, and fewer overseas students coming to the US. A 0.5% change is not significant, that is only a few hundred students.
I have many posts on here sharing our experiences as an OOS family. My dd loves it. She is thriving. She has completed 2 years and has had amazing experiences and opportunities. There are so many ways to connect and engage without going near traditional Greek life. There are active professional societies and so many clubs and organizations. The UA communication is outstanding, administration is responsive, the campus beautiful, the academics are wonderful, the EC experiences are more than she could have imagined. She is learning, growing, connecting, and making memories of a lifetime.
I wouldn’t be concerned about the blip. I think right now they are testing their brand by reducing scholarships, and if they wanted to return to previous enrollment levels they could do so by reinstating the full tuition scholarship. It’s a very generous scholarship even still, but doesn’t differentiate quite as much as the old one did.
The thing I didn’t know when S17 was applying was how many different special programs they have. The more I explore, the more things I see that are cool. They really seem to be trying to have interesting programs for their most ambitious students, while also having solid programs for everybody. S17 is not Greek, but has found a couple of different friend groups that he is very close with.
I don’t see the dip/blip as a negative. Coping with sustained, crazy enrollment growth requires more than just building more dorms.
Visit!!! It’s amazing!
I will be honest. In Illinois the only families that seem to consider Alabama was for their merit packages to attract OOS students. I talk to a lot of families and they all say the same thing… “my child is only going there since they got a full ride or 3/4”. Like their making excuses for it… Lol.
But then I hear of the great time they had there and the great internships and opportunities and job offers.
So I think Alabama is “backing” up their offers with great opportunities. It’s obvious they want their rank in engineering etc to rise and they want their overall type of student profile to change.
I followed them for about 5 years now and never heard anyone going there really say anything negative about their experience. I just think it might be one of those unique opportunities that might not be around 5 years from now.
Definitely go visit and report back
We have, and it’s amazing! Absolutely loved it and nothing but positive things to say. 
Well then good luck to your child ?.
My son just graduated with an engineering degree. Originally considered it for the full-tuition+ scholarship, but chose it over Penn State full pay in state and a few privates that were in the same range as PSU because he felt it was the best overall value, and he just really enjoyed his visits to the campus. Graduating with zero debt is a wonderful thing, but he got so much more than that, including a co-op job and an internship. Never went Greek, never lacked for friends or opportunities, had a great overall experience. Feel free to PM me if I can answer any specific questions.
DS was a NMF, originally from the NE, who attended Bama for the full scholarship. Turned down Emory, URichmond, etc, to attend, bc he didn’t want to have any student loans and when we visited, Bama rolled out the red carpet. His words were “It’s really nice to be wanted!” Graduated last year. He was not Greek and LOVED his time there. He participated in the Honors College orientation program (Outdoor Action) and many of those kids wound up being his best friends throughout college. Alabama’s communication and welcoming atmosphere throughout all 4 yrs was amazing - very well run in that regard.
However, advising was NONEXISTENT. Help with internships, for anyone other than engineering majors, also nonexistent. If your student is not proactive and somewhat assertive, that could be a concern.
I think the recent political news coming out of Alabama may deter some prospective OOS students.
DS has a twin who attended a small LAC in the midwest, so we had an interesting four years of comparison. What a difference having a close relationship with an advisor/mentor makes! DH and I did say to each other more than once that “you get what you pay for.” However, there were other frustrations with a small college too - Health center not well-staffed, frustrations with the dining hall, etc. But, DD was also very happy with her choice and wouldn’t have liked Bama at all. It all comes down to which frustrations you can tolerate. 
I agree there are good advisors and some not so good advisors. The students need to learn to advocate for themselves…if the advisor they are assigned to is not a good fit, switch advisors! It is a very easy process. It is also important to book advising appointments early so that the advisor has more time to spend with the student. Kids that wait until the day before their registration date will most likely have to do walk-in sessions that are rushed. When they do find a good advisor, take advantage of him/her…go in and ask questions about classes/programs/opportunities…make every attempt to establish a relationship, it will make a difference in the end.
My do graduated from Bama last yr. For him, it was an awesome experience. He was part of CBH/RRS and had a wonderful group of friends and mentors. He didn’t rely on his advisor so much as professors who mentored him.
The UG research opportunities at Bama are there for students who want to pursue them and are actively engaged in their field.
My older D is a rising junior who is at UA on the presidential. She is a nerdy, straight-edge non-religious introvert who is majoring in CS. She has found some other people in her major who she shares interests with.
UA is big enough that your kid should be able to find their tribe and be happy. If your tribe is blond, rich, sorority girls who want to have fun and go to football games for four years and have BFF’s forever, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. If your tribe is nerdy, beautiful brunette CS girls who are GDI, the tribe is smaller, but still there.
She’s spending the summer interning at Qualcomm in San Diego, so don’t worry about UA’s academic creds-theyr’e there if your kid takes advantage of them.
I agree with others that the advising is a joke, and my kid is pretty much self-advised. The Qualcomm opportunity was through a UA-based information board (the name escapes me). If your kid isn’t an expert with coursicle and degreeworks, then make sure they are. On top of that, teach them how to lean on the right people in advising to get what they want. Those are good skills to know.
I second all of this. We went for an OOS campus visit and were really impressed. We arranged all of our ‘must see’ stops on campus through an online form and follow-up email before arriving and were completely shocked that our first meeting was with the head of department for my son’s chosen major. Most of our meetings (during high school spring break) were one-on-one. We were given a map and an itinerary ahead of time, and we just so pleased with everything we saw. My kid is also not interested in Greek life, so we just drove down the street where their houses are and shrugged to each other. It wasn’t dominant from our perspective.
Visited campus with our OOS daughter for the first time today…absolutely stunning campus visually. Not a blade of glass out of place and I was not expecting the expansiveness of the campus green spaces or the massive scale of the buildings themselves. Really spectacular. We had an amazing tour guide and everyone we encountered on campus was beyond welcoming.
We arrived here at the state’s “other” large Alabama public university to self-tour tomorrow but our daughter’s mind seems to still be in Tuscaloosa. Feels like she still needs to go through the application process for the other schools on her list but it will be interesting if we don’t get to April 2020 and realize that the search was effectively over after this UA visit in August 2019.