Samford University Overview
Samford University is a private not-for-profit institution situated in Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham is considered a suburb and offers tranquility and safety near the excitement of a city center.
What Is Samford University Known For?
- The 3% student loan default rate at Samford is better than the national rate of 10.1%. That's a good sign that you may be able to pay off student loans easier than your peers at other schools can.
- The doctor's degree is the highest award offered at Samford.
- In 2017-2018, 98% of the faculty were full-time.
- Students who graduate from Samford with a bachelor's degree make about $49,900 a year. That's 22% more than those who graduate from other schools.
- On average, it takes about 4.2 years for students from Samford to earn a bachelor's degree. This is excellent when compared to the average of 4.4 years.
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Samford University Rankings
Samford is ranked #4 out of 29 schools in Alabama.
These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at Samford.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#19 | Most Popular Online Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Samford has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#14 | Best Value Colleges for Journalism | College Factual |
#47 | Best Colleges for Health Professions | College Factual |
#62 | Best Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#77 | Best Colleges for Nursing | College Factual |
#81 | Best Value Colleges for Communication & Journalism | College Factual |
#89 | Best Health Professions Colleges for Veterans | College Factual |
Where Is Samford University?

Contact details for Samford are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 800 Lakeshore Drive, Birmingham, AL 35229-2240 |
Phone: | 205-726-2011 |
Website: | www.samford.edu |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/SamfordU |
How Do I Get Into Samford?
You can apply to Samford online at: www.samford.edu/admission/apply
Admission Requirements for Samford
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | required |
High School Rank | considered but not required |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | considered but not required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | recommended |
How Hard Is It To Get Into Samford?
Approximately 32% of accepted students are men and 68% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 81%, and the acceptance rate for women is 84%.
Average Test Scores
About 33% of students accepted to Samford submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 550 and 650. Math scores were between 530 and 630.
Can I Afford Samford University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At Samford, approximately 38% of students took out student loans averaging $8,448 a year. That adds up to $33,792 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Samford is 2.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Samford University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 2,084 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,453 full-time undergraduates at Samford, 33% are male and 67% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of Samford University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 37 |
Black or African American | 214 |
Hispanic or Latino | 116 |
White | 2,941 |
International Students | 45 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 100 |
Geographic Diversity
Alabama students aren't the only ones who study at Samford University. At this time, 31 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 40 countries are represented at Samford. The most popular countries sending students to the school are China, Brazil, and South Korea.
Online Learning at Samford University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at Samford has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 25th most popular in Alabama for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2017-2018.
Online Growth Rankings of Samford
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Samford University was 21.2%. This is the #857 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at Samford regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of Samford majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
Major | 1-Year Growth Rate |
---|---|
Food, Nutrition & Related Services | 10% |
Health & Medical Administrative Services | 33% |
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at Samford ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at Samford.
Major | Growth Rate Rank | |
---|---|---|
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services | #7 | |
Public Health | #23 | |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | #70 | |
Nursing | #156 | |
Education | #188 | |
Business Administration & Management | #238 | |
Health Professions | #263 | |
Business, Management & Marketing | #300 |
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
Samford University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Sweetmoose6 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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