GoAbroad.com

University Attributes

Founded in 1856, Birmingham-Southern is a four-year, private liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college challenges students to think independently, to examine the arts and sciences aesthetically and critically, and to communicate clearly, while fostering the advancement of scholarship, personal and resourceful learning, and comprehensive advising. It is a sheltering institution for Phi Beta Kappa, and home to 20 other honorary or professional societies in various academic areas, as well as more than 80 student organizations.

BSC enrolls 1,400 students from 32 states and 11 foreign countries and offers five bachelors degrees in some 50 programs of study. The low 12-to-1 student-to-faculty ratio allows for an environment of personal attention in and out of the classroom. It is distinguished by a January Interim Term, and honors, study abroad, leadership studies, and service-learning programs. In the past year, the college has opened a new Admission Welcome Center for prospective students, their parents, and other visitors; dedicated a new Football Complex; and completed phase one of an Urban Environmental Park that will serve as a place of recreation and leisure for students and as an outdoor classroom for the new Urban Environmental Studies major.

In fall 2008, the college welcomed 505 new first-year students, including a record 456 freshmen. It was the second straight fall with record freshman enrollment. Birmingham-Southern is recognized nationally for its quality academic program and its value: Colleges That Change Lives author Loren Pope again selected Birmingham-Southern as one of 40 colleges that are outdoing the Ivy League schools and the major universities in producing winners; the 2008 Fiske Guide to Colleges includes Birmingham-Southern among 26 private colleges and universities nationwide named as a Best Buy for the quality of the academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance; The Princeton Review includes Birmingham-Southern as one of the Best 368 Colleges in the country and as one of America's Best Value Colleges; BSC is ranked No. 24 among all liberal arts colleges in the nation by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity based on student satisfaction while in college and success after college; the college was ranked No. 9 in the nation in a 2008 Reader's Digest survey on safety preparedness receiving an "A"; and Birmingham-Southern is one of only 127 institutions in the nation named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. In addition, Birmingham-Southern ranks No. 1 in Alabama and among the nation's best each year in percentage of all graduates accepted to law school, and has a distinguished record of job placement and admission to other graduate and professional schools.

Degrees Available

• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Arts
• Master of Arts
• Bachelor of Fine Arts

Degree Level

Masters Degree

Subject Areas

Experience Required

no

Application Process Involves

• Transcript
• Letters of Reference
• Online Application plus Application Assessment
• Essay
• Other