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Samford University

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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?

989 Undergraduate Awards
$35,631 Avg Cost After Aid
84% Acceptance Rate
  • 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.

Rank Ranking Name Share
#2 Best Value Medical Illustration & Informatics Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#7 Best Value Public Health Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#9 Best Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#13 Most Popular Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#19 Most Popular Health/Medical Prep Programs Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#35 Best Communication & Journalism Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#38 Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#45 Best Communication & Media Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#139 Best Business Administration & Management Bachelor’s Degree Schools Tweet It - Post It
#205 Most Popular Health Professions Bachelor’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
#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?

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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?

84% Acceptance Rate
68% Of Accepted Are Women
37% Submit SAT Scores
With an acceptance rate of 84%, Samford may not be as selective as some schools, but you should not take admittance for granted. Be sure to submit the best application you can.

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.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for Samford University  ( 540 to 640 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for Samford University  ( 520 to 600 )
200
800
Samford received ACT scores from 82% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 23 and 32. Math scores were between 21 and 27. Composite scores were between 23 and 29.

ACT English Scores for Samford University  ( 23 to 32 )
1
36
ACT Math Scores for Samford University  ( 21 to 27 )
1
36
ACT Composite Scores for Samford University  ( 23 to 29 )
1
36

Can I Afford Samford University?

$35,631 Net Price
36% Take Out Loans
2.0% Loan Default Rate
The overall average net price of Samford is $35,631. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

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

3,501 Full-Time Undergraduates
68% Women
13% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
There are 3,576 undergraduate students at Samford, with 3,501 being full-time and 75 being part-time.

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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.

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Racial-Ethnic Diversity

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

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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

535 Took All Classes Online
2,140 Took At Least One Class Online
-6.1% Avg Growth Over 4 Years
In 2019-2020, 2,140 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at Samford has changed over the last few years.

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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.

Major Bachelor’s Graduate Certificate Master’s Doctor’s TOTAL
Nursing 120 2 27 129 278
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 118 0 0 125 243
Law 0 0 0 132 132
Business Administration & Management 55 0 37 0 92
Teacher Education Grade Specific 42 0 31 0 73
Accounting 38 0 22 0 60
Educational Administration 0 7 4 46 57
Marketing 56 0 0 0 56
Journalism 52 0 0 0 52
Health/Medical Prep Programs 46 0 0 0 46
Finance & Financial Management 44 0 0 0 44
Health Sciences & Services 40 0 0 0 40
Human Development & Family Studies 35 0 0 0 35
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 0 0 0 35 35
Theological & Ministerial Studies 0 0 33 1 34
Public Health 5 0 27 1 33
Health & Physical Education 30 0 0 0 30
Food, Nutrition & Related Services 17 0 11 0 28
Communication Sciences 9 0 16 0 25
Design & Applied Arts 25 0 0 0 25
Legal Research 0 0 24 0 24
Communication & Media Studies 22 0 0 0 22
General English Literature 22 0 0 0 22
General Psychology 21 0 0 0 21
Social Work 0 0 19 0 19
General Biology 16 0 0 0 16
Business/Managerial Economics 15 0 0 0 15
Drama & Theater Arts 14 0 0 0 14
Health & Medical Administrative Services 9 0 4 0 13
History 11 0 0 0 11
Political Science & Government 11 0 0 0 11
Teacher Education Subject Specific 9 0 1 0 10
Classical Languages & Literature 9 0 0 0 9
Sociology 9 0 0 0 9
Music 7 0 2 0 9
Entrepreneurial Studies 8 0 0 0 8
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services 0 8 0 0 8
Public Administration 8 0 0 0 8
Non-Professional General Legal Studies 7 0 0 0 7
Medical Illustration & Informatics 0 0 4 2 6
Religious Studies 6 0 0 0 6
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology 5 0 0 0 5
Computer Information Systems 5 0 0 0 5
Special Education 0 0 5 0 5
Romance Languages 5 0 0 0 5
Allied Health Professions 0 0 5 0 5
Liberal Arts General Studies 5 0 0 0 5
Mathematics 5 0 0 0 5
Missionary Studies 5 0 0 0 5
International Relations & National Security 4 0 0 0 4
Fine & Studio Arts 4 0 0 0 4
Natural Resources Conservation 1 0 2 0 3
Economics 3 0 0 0 3
Sacred Music 3 0 0 0 3
Philosophy 2 0 0 0 2
Ecology, Evolution & Systematics Biology 1 0 0 0 1
Germanic Languages 1 0 0 0 1
Interdisciplinary Studies 1 0 0 0 1
International Studies 1 0 0 0 1
Physics 1 0 0 0 1
Geography & Cartography 1 0 0 0 1
Architecture (Other) 0 0 0 0 0
Human Resource Management 0 0 0 0 0
International Business 0 0 0 0 0
Computer Science 0 0 0 0 0
Instructional Media Design 0 0 0 0 0
Student Counseling 0 0 0 0 0
Environmental Control Technology 0 0 0 0 0
Engineering Physics 0 0 0 0 0
Area Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Linguistics & Comparative Literature 0 0 0 0 0
Other Health Professions 0 0 0 0 0
Legal Support Services 0 0 0 0 0
Other Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Other Philosophy & Religious Studies 0 0 0 0 0
Chemistry 0 0 0 0 0
Criminal Justice & Corrections 0 0 0 0 0
Human Services 0 0 0 0 0
Other Visual Art 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL 989 17 274 471 1,751

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.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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