Notes

These are items that bear looking into more closely.

• This institution’s six year bachelors graduation rate is 36.9%, so approximately 3/5 of undergrads who enroll do not earn a bachelors degree from here.

Overview of institution

This, and the rest of the page, use info from the most recent year available, generally 2023.

• Institution kind: Master’s Colleges & Universities: Larger Programs

• Undergrad program: Balanced arts & sciences/professions, some graduate coexistence

• Graduate program: Postbaccalaureate: Comprehensive programs

• Enrollment profile: Majority graduate (see more details below)

• Average net price for undergrads on financial aid: $13,786 . This is 70% the average cost of Harvard.

• Actual price for your family: Go here to see what your family may be asked to pay. It can be MUCH lower than the average price but also higher for some.

• Size and setting: Four-year, medium, primarily residential

• In state percentage: 81% of first year students come from Alabama (note that 2.9% have no residence reported)

• In US percentage: 94% of first year students come from the US (note that 2.9% have no residence reported)

• Graduation rate (within 6 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 36.9% (this is what is usually reported as “graduation rate”)

• Graduation rate (within 4 years) for students seeking a Bachelors: 28.6%

• Percent of students seeking a Bachelors who transfer out of this institution: 35.7%

• Student to tenure-stream faculty ratio: 24.1 (undergrads to tenure-stream faculty) [Tenure explained]

• Student to faculty ratio: 16.5 (undergrads to all faculty)

• Degrees offered: Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree, Post master’s certificate, Doctor’s degree: research scholarship

• Schedule: Semester

• Institution provides on campus housing: Yes

• Dorm capacity: There are enough dorm beds for 927 students

• Freshmen required to live on campus: No

• Advanced placement (AP) credits used: Yes

• Disabilities: 3 percent or less of undergrads are registered as having disabilities.

Map

Comparisons

The sections below show this institution compared with others. The ones listed are ones it has identified as peers, who consider themselves peers, and/or who the federal government considers peers. If a comparison school has the same value as the focal school, its cell is grayed out. In fields where there is a common view that higher (or lower) values are better, the best values are in blue, the worst values are in red. If there isn’t a sense of a particular value being better, values are shown in varying shades of green. Arrows show where there is a signficant trend over time for a school. You can swipe across the table to see more of it; the focal school column is always visible.

• University of West Alabama lists these schools as ones to compare itself within federal IPEDS data, and they do the same back: University of South Alabama, Southern Arkansas University Main Campus, Lander University, Northwestern State University of Louisiana, University of South Carolina Aiken, Athens State University, Delta State University
• University of West Alabama compares itself to these institutions, but not vice versa: Auburn University, The University of Alabama, Tennessee State University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Georgia College & State University, Alcorn State University, Clayton State University, McNeese State University, University of Louisiana at Monroe, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Winthrop University, University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, Fort Valley State University, Grambling State University, Southern University and A & M College, Coastal Carolina University, Jacksonville State University, Western Carolina University, University of Montevallo, University of North Carolina Asheville, Nicholls State University, Winston-Salem State University, The University of Tennessee-Martin, University of North Alabama, Columbus State University, University of South Carolina-Upstate, Albany State University, Savannah State University, Fayetteville State University, Troy University, Louisiana State University-Alexandria, Alabama A & M University, University of North Carolina at Pembroke, Georgia Southwestern State University, North Carolina Central University, Henderson State University, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Francis Marion University, Louisiana State University-Shreveport, University of South Carolina Beaufort, Elizabeth City State University, Auburn University at Montgomery, Jackson State University, Mississippi Valley State University, South Carolina State University, Alabama State University, Kentucky State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Southern University at New Orleans
• These institutions compare themselves to University of West Alabama, but not vice versa: Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus, University of North Georgia, William Carey University, Missouri Western State University, Lee University, Montana State University Billings, New Mexico Highlands University, Northwest Missouri State University, Missouri Southern State University, Mississippi University for Women, University of North Texas at Dallas, Sul Ross State University, University of Houston-Victoria, South University-Montgomery

Enrollment

General

Teaching

Tenure track faculty are those who are eligible for tenure. This includes both pre-tenure and tenured faculty. Once faculty get tenure, they are (generally) protected from being fired for intellectual reasons, helping to ensure their freedom in teaching and research. They can still lose their positions for misconduct, financial problems, not fulfilling their duties, or other reasons.

Non-tenure track faculty are not eligible for tenure. Some are hired one semester at a time, some have multi-year contracts. They typically have a higher teaching load than tenure track faculty, leaving less time for research or other creative endeavors. They are also easier to fire than tenured faculty. Sometimes they are external experts (a noted musician, a former senator) who are hired to teach some classes without the expected permanence of a tenure-track position.

Note that this chart uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.

Having a low student to faculty ratio is considered a good thing by many, as it can mean more individual attention.

Geography

This has information on the location of the institution. See the about page for more information on what the metrics are and how they are calculated.

Financial Aid

Graduation

Note these are bachelors graduation rates in six years, not four (this is standard). Sample sizes can be small for some demographic groups with few individuals in a school, leading to large year-to-year fluctuations and often extreme values for those groups (if there are two individuals in the class with a given identity, the possible graduation rates are 0%, 50%, or 100% depending on whether zero, one, or both students graduate within six years).

Library

Libraries are changing rapidly. Note that how institutions count digital collections may vary.

Diversity

The US Census Bureau has a diversity index that goes from 0 to 1. In their words, “A 0-value indicates that everyone in the population has the same racial and ethnic characteristics. A value close to 1 indicates that everyone in the population has different racial and ethnic characteristics.” This uses their formula, but with the resolution available for the federal IPEDS data (which does not separate for a given demographic group whether members identify as Hispanic or not). This metric is about heterogeneity within the population, not the proportion of the population that comes from historically excluded groups.

Following the practice of the census, the index is multiplied by 100 to give the percentage probability a random pair of individuals will have a different background. Most institutions argue that diversity is a benefit, so by default a higher number is listed as better, but there may be cases where this measure does not reflect the mission of a college (for example, 70% of the students at a tribal college or university may be American Indian: that could be low-scoring by this metric but should not be read as “bad” given the institution’s mission).

These numbers are based on the most recent year available, generally 2023, which predates effects of the US Supreme Court’s striking down of affirmative action. This has often changed, sometimes dramatically, the incoming student demographics at some institutions.

Overall diversity

Freshman profile

Demographic data for first time degree-seeking students. Note that this uses US federal demographic data: it only has two genders and a specified set of ethnicities and races.

Freshman geography

Test scores

SAT scores

ACT scores

Majors

This presents information on the number of majors and the median earnings one and five years after graduation for people who got a degree from this institution in that field. The earnings are for those who are working and not enrolled in further education. The earnings data (from the federal college scorecard) also has information on earnings for those categorized as ‘MALE’ and ‘NOMALE’ – for readability, these are recategorized here as “Men” and “Women”, respectively, which adopts the gender binary used in other federal data. “W/M earnings ratio” is the median earnings of women divided by men, as a percentage.

Bachelors

Masters

Doctorate

Certificate

Associates