University of
Alabama at Birmingham
Public Research University in Birmingham, AL. Six-year graduation rate 64%. Median 10-year earnings $54,501.
Ten years after entry, the median University of Alabama at Birmingham student earns $54,501 — a solidly middle-of-the-pack result for an undergraduate institution. The six-year graduation rate is 64%, meaning about one in three students who start do not finish. Graduates carry a median of $22,300 in debt — in line with the national norm.
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
Admission is not the constraint here: 88% of applicants are accepted. 11,379 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. About 20% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range. The score bands below rest on the 4% 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 | 600–710 | 88 (4%) |
| SAT Math | 610–740 | |
| ACT Composite | 23–30 | 860 (43%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of Alabama at Birmingham →Academics
Completion is middling: 64% finish inside six years. 80% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. 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 19% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. Retention drops to 47% 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 12,118 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $17,997 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price varies modestly by income — $16,172 at $0–30k against $22,597 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 74% of students receive grant aid, averaging $11,003 — common but not automatic. Federal borrowing reaches 41% of students.
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 · 2,057 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 | $16,172 |
| $30–48k | $15,500 |
| $48–75k | $19,161 |
| $75–110k | $21,805 |
| $110k+ | $22,597 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,985 of these 12,118 students, totalling $33,857,005 — an average of $6,792 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Jefferson 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)