Samford University

Location and Contact Information

The campus is in a large suburb.

Overview

Samford University, established in 1841, is situated in Birmingham, Alabama. It was originally founded as Howard College, and opened its doors on January 3, 1842. In 1887, Samford shifted to East Lake community located in Birmingham.

The school offers Associate, Bachelor, Master’s/ Professional and Doctorate degrees to the students. The campus covers nearly 180 acres the University is presently divided into the following degree-granting units.

• Beeson Divinity School
• Beeson School of Education & Professional Studies
• Brock School of Business
• Cumberland School of Law
• Howard College of Arts and Science
• Ida V. Moffett School of Nursing
• McWhorter School of Pharmacy
• Metro College
• School of the Arts

Samford University has over 100 social student clubs and organizations. The college is also home to several fraternities and sororities including Alpha Delta Pi, Sigma Nu, Delta Zeta, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. The sports teams of the college are nicknamed the Bulldogs.

Highlights (vs. Other Schools)

• Baptist religious affiliation.
• Many students concentrating in law, religion and philosophy, medicine, and music.
• High percentage of students are from out-of-state.
• Large number of programs of study offered.
• Good faculty-to-student ratio.
• Number of dorm rooms for students.
• Unusually high availability of athletic financial aid.
• Large number of students.
• High faculty salary.
• High SAT scores (combined Verbal and Math).

School characteristics:

• The school is private, not-for-profit.
• Academic calender: 4-1-4 plan.
• Carnegie classification: Masters Colleges and Universities I.

Features of note:

• The school offers a faculty tenure system.
• There are one or more libraries on-campus.
• Campus housing is available.
• Students have meal (board) plans.
• Students may study abroad.
• Distance learning is available.
• Part-time classes are available.
• ROTC.
• Athlete financial aid is awarded.

Similar Schools

Based on proprietary BrainTrack computer comparisons against all other US colleges, these schools appear to be most similar to Samford University:

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Degrees Awarded (in 2009-2010)

Faculty

Tenure (2009-2010):

Students

Student enrollment was 4,469 in 2009-2010 (4,757 full-time equivalent).

About 34% of the freshmen class in 2009-2010 was male and women were 66% of the class.

Undergrads are 62% of enrolled students and graduate students are 38%.

Students under 25 years old represent 74% of the student body. About 6% of the school is at least 40 years of age.

Among freshmen students, 100% are full-time and 0% are part-time.

Admissions Summary (2009-2010)

SAT Test Scores:

Room and Board

Samford University provides on-campus housing for 1,989 of its 4,757 (full-time) students (as of 2009-2010). The school requires freshmen to live on campus.

Students may purchase a meal plan which includes 19 meals weekly.

Athletics

School sports include football, basketball, baseball, and track. The school is in the Southern Conference for major sports.

The school offers financial aid for athletes. Of students receiving athletic financial aid, 148 male students received the aid (men were 59% of those receiving aid) and 103 women were awarded financial aid based on athletics (representing 41% of students receiving such aid) .

Graduate School Focus

Samford University offers graduate (post-Bachelor) studies. The highest degree offered is the Doctorate (Research/Scholarship & Professional Practice).

Graduate offerings include continuing professional education.The school's Graduate School Carnegie Classification is Doctorate, Professional Dominant.

Programs of Study

(Number of degrees in 2009-2010 in parentheses)

ART STUDIES (7 awarded)

• Art/Art Studies

BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT (121 awarded)

• Accounting
• Business Administration and Management
• Business/Managerial Economics
• Finance
• Human Resources Development
• International Business/Trade/Commerce
• Marketing/Marketing Management

COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING (3 awarded)

• Computer Science

CONSERVATION AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (1 awarded)

• Environmental Studies

DESIGN (23 awarded)

• Graphic Design
• Interior Design

DRAMA AND PERFORMING ARTS (6 awarded)

• Drama and Dramatics/Theatre Arts
• Visual and Performing Arts

EDUCATION AND TEACHING (115 awarded)

• Education/Teaching of the Gifted and Talented
• Educational Leadership and Administration
• Educational, Instructional, and Curriculum Supervision
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• English/Language Arts Teacher Education
• Physical Education Teaching and Coaching
• Student Counseling and Personnel Services
• Teacher Education, Multiple Levels
• Teacher Education/Profess Development, Levels & Methods

ENGINEERING TECHNICIAN (9 awarded)

• Environmental Control Technologies/Technicians

FAMILY AND SOCIAL WORK (47 awarded)

• Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services
• Human Development and Family Studies
• Public Administration

LAW (180 awarded)

• Law (LLB, JD)
• Legal Assistant/Paralegal
• Programs for Foreign Lawyers (LLM, MCL)

LIBERAL ARTS (91 awarded)

• Cartography
• Classics/Classical Languages, Lit & Linguistics
• English Language and Literature
• French Language and Literature
• General Studies
• Geography
• History
• International Relations and Affairs
• Latin Language and Literature
• Political Science and Government
• Sociology
• Spanish Language and Literature

MATHEMATICS (4 awarded)

• Mathematics

MEDIA (53 awarded)

• Communication Studies/Speech Communication and Rhetoric
• Journalism

MEDICINE (132 awarded)

• Pharmacy (PharmD [USA], PharmD or BS/BPharm [Canada])
• Pre-Medicine/Pre-Medical Studies

MUSIC (23 awarded)

• Music Performance
• Music Theory and Composition
• Piano and Organ
• Voice and Opera

NURSING AND EMERGENCY MEDICINE (137 awarded)

• Nurse Anesthetist
• Nursing
• Nursing/Registered Nurse (RN, ASN, BSN, MSN)

NUTRITION AND EXERCISE THERAPY (23 awarded)

• Athletic Training/Trainer
• Health and Physical Education
• Kinesiology and Exercise Science

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY (58 awarded)

• Divinity/Ministry (BD, MDiv)
• Philosophy
• Philosophy and Religious Studies
• Religion/Religious Studies
• Religious/Sacred Music
• Theological and Ministerial Studies
• Theology/Theological Studies

SCIENCE (39 awarded)

• Biochemistry
• Biology/Biological Sciences

THERAPY AND COUNSELING (25 awarded)

• Counseling Psychology
• Psychology