Birmingham Southern, UAB ranked among top Ala. universities in survey

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Birmingham Southern

With years of state budget cuts to higher education adversely affecting the cost and quality of schools and research showing that public institutions can outperform private colleges in terms of graduates’ career outcomes, on Thursday the personal-finance website WalletHub released its 2018’s Best College & University Rankings, along with separate rankings for colleges and universities.

Birmingham-Southern College (BSC) took the No. 1 spot on WalletHub’s 2018’s Best Colleges in Alabama survey, according to a Thursday news release.

BSC ranked in the state as having the best graduation rate, 3rd on post-attendance median salary, 6th on admission rate and student-faculty ratio. It’s lowest scores were ranked 19th in net cost and 20th in on-campus crime.

The study compared nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across the country and ranked them based on 26 key measures grouped in seven key categories: student selectivity, cost and financing, faculty resources, campus safety, campus experience, educational outcomes and career outcomes.

Here’s how schools in Alabama ranked:

Top 10 Colleges and Universities in Alabama (national rankings are in parenthesis)

1 Birmingham-Southern College (143) 6 University of Alabama (376)
2 University of Alabama-Birmingham (226) 7 Auburn University (417)
3 Spring Hill College (289) 8 Samford University (443)
4 University of Alabama-Huntsville (292) 9 University of Montevallo (458)
5 University of North Alabama (351) 10 University of West Alabama (N/A)

Here’s a closer look at some the top three schools in the Yellowhammer State and how each performed in certain metrics:

Birmingham-Southern College (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23 = Worst)

  • 6th – Admission Rate
  • 19th – Net Cost
  • 6th – Student-Faculty Ratio
  • 20th – On-Campus Crime
  • 15th – Gender & Racial Diversity
  • 1st – Graduation Rate
  • 3rd – Post-Attendance Median Salary

University of Alabama-Birmingham (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23 = Worst)

  • 14th – Admission Rate
  • 11th – Net Cost
  • 15th – Student-Faculty Ratio
  • 12th – On-Campus Crime
  • 4th – Gender & Racial Diversity
  • 8th – Graduation Rate
  • 7th – Post-Attendance Median Salary

Spring Hill College (1 = Best; 12 = Average; 23= Worst)

  • 2nd – Admission Rate
  • 15th – Net Cost
  • 9th – Student-Faculty Ratio
  • 21st – On-Campus Crime
  • 10th – Gender & Racial Diversity
  • 4th – Graduation Rate
  • 6th – Post-Attendance Median Salary