The transformation in Tuscaloosa is hard to overstate, faculty and administrators say. The manicured greens of the central quad, the Denny Chimes bell tower of brick and limestone, and the core academic halls with columned facades remain as they were in generations past. But a building spree — said to entail an opening or renovation every 90 days — has enlarged and modernized a campus packed with more students than ever. Faculty, weary of budget cuts before the boom, received substantial raises after it.
Many students from out of state cite three factors that drew their attention: a winning football tradition, an honors college and merit scholarships. Coach Saban earns $7 million a year, but the value of the marketing boost his team provides the school is immense.
The honors college, launched in 2003, has about 6,000 students. They qualify through high grades and test scores (minimum score of 28 on the ACT or 1250 on SAT reading and math), and they get benefits including seminars capped at 15 students per professor, as well as service and research opportunities.
Scholarships often clinch the deal. Alabama spends about $80 million a year on scholarships and grants for students without financial need (not counting athletic scholarships), twice as much as it does on need-based aid, according to data provided to analysts. Discounts to the out-of-state price — which total about $35,000 for tuition, fees, room and board — help the school land high-achievers normally wooed by more prestigious schools that can cost up to $60,000 a year.
“Really, it was about money and scholarships,” said Henry Poole, 19, a junior math major from San Diego. “I basically decided I didn’t want to spent $200,000, $300,000 or however much money. I decided I could make this work. There’s a lot of cool opportunities here.”
Amanda Bennett, 21, a senior in English and African American studies from Atlanta, said she turned down schools from the Ivy League and elsewhere to come here because Alabama offered the most competitive academic scholarship. “I couldn’t have asked for a better deal,” she said.
The influx from out of state is helping to reshape the image of a school famous as a scene of civil rights battles. In 1963, Gov. George C. Wallace, an ardent segregationist, made his “stand in the schoolhouse door” at Foster Auditorium to protest the admission of African Americans Vivian Malone and James Hood. In the past decade, the school has grown somewhat more racially diverse: In 2004, 83 percent of undergrads were white; in 2014, the share was 77 percent.
Last year, students elected the school’s first African American student government president since the 1970s. Elliot Spillers, 21, a senior in business management from Pelham, Ala., said support from nonresidents helped propel his victory.
“Students here from Chicago, Texas, California — they’re changing the culture of this university,” he said. “They have been able to put pressure on this campus and make a difference — and change it for the better.”