Samford University Overview
Located in Birmingham, Alabama, Samford University is a private not-for-profit institution. Samford is located in a safe and convenient suburb.
What Is Samford University Known For?
- Students at Samford have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 2%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
- Although it may not be available for every major, the doctor's degree is the highest award a student can attain at Samford.
- For the 2019-2020 academic year, 99% of the faculty were full-time.
- A student who earns a bachelor's degree from Samford makes roughly $53,223 a year. This is 30% more than their peers from other colleges and universities.
- It takes the average Samford student 4.2 years to graduate. This is pretty good when compared to the national rate of 4.4 years.
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Samford University Rankings
Samford is ranked #4 out of 39 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.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards Samford has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Pre-Physical Therapy Studies Schools | College Factual |
#10 | Best Health/Medical Prep Programs Schools | College Factual |
#38 | Best Educational Administration Schools | College Factual |
#60 | Best Nursing Schools | College Factual |
#151 | Best Nursing Schools | Nursing Degree Search |
#159 | Best Health Professions Schools | 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 | recommended |
High School Transcript | considered but not required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | required |
SAT or ACT Scores | considered but not required |
TOEFL | neither required nor 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 86%.
Average Test Scores
About 37% 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 540 and 640. Math scores were between 520 and 600.
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
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Samford, approximately 36% of students took out student loans averaging $8,559 a year. That adds up to $34,236 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Samford is 2.0%. 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 2,153 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 3,501 full-time undergraduates at Samford, 32% are male and 68% 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 | 185 |
Hispanic or Latino | 134 |
White | 3,013 |
International Students | 39 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 93 |
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 14th most popular in Alabama for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of Samford
During the most recent year for which we have data, the full-time undergraduate tuition at Samford University was $34,198 for both in-state and out-of-state students. The following table shows how Samford is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Major | Tuition for In-State Students | Tuition for Out-of-State Students |
---|---|---|
Legal Research | #21 | #12 |
Legal Professions | #25 | #19 |
Natural Resources & Conservation | #29 | #29 |
Natural Resources Conservation | #29 | #26 |
Food, Nutrition & Related Services | #57 | #54 |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #65 | #51 |
Online Growth Rankings of Samford
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Samford University was -6.1%. This is the #1,948 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 |
---|---|
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services | 88% |
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | 5% |
Food, Nutrition & Related Services | 29% |
Health & Medical Administrative Services | 23% |
Health Professions | 17% |
Legal Professions | 4% |
Legal Research | 29% |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | 17% |
Nursing | 20% |
Public Health | 15% |
Teacher Education Grade Specific | 12% |
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 | |
---|---|---|
Natural Resources Conservation | #51 | |
Food, Nutrition & Related Services | #53 | |
Legal Research | #68 | |
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services | #79 | |
Natural Resources & Conservation | #84 | |
Medical Illustration & Informatics | #88 | |
Social Work | #159 | |
Public Health | #281 | |
Legal Professions | #296 | |
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences | #383 |
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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