The University
of Alabama
Public Research University in Tuscaloosa, AL. Six-year graduation rate 73%. Median 10-year earnings $59,221.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $59,221 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Completion is a strength: 73% of students finish within six years. Median debt at graduation is $22,750, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
77% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. The applicant pool is large — 56,795 in the most recent cycle — so the published rate reflects genuine competition rather than a small-sample quirk. Only 19% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. The score bands below rest on the 15% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 590–690 | 1,218 (15%) |
| SAT Math | 580–710 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–31 | 3,477 (43%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at The University of Alabama →Academics
Six-year completion runs to 73% — students who start here overwhelmingly finish here. First-year retention of 89% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. Transfer-out runs to 17% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 50% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 32,323 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $22,559 annually once grants are applied. Income makes less difference than usual: $19,169 at $0–30k, $26,729 at $110k+. 70% of students receive grant aid, averaging $16,162 — common but not automatic. About 33% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 8,215 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $19,169 |
| $30–48k | $19,884 |
| $48–75k | $22,258 |
| $75–110k | $25,658 |
| $110k+ | $26,729 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 10,828 of these 32,323 students, totalling $68,190,041 — an average of $6,298 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Tuscaloosa County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)