Jim Shmerling

The University of Alabama is a student-centered research university and an academic community united in its commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all Alabamians. Founded in 1831 as Alabama's first public college, The University of Alabama is dedicated to excellence in teaching, research and service. We provide a creative, nurturing campus environment where our students can become the best individuals possible, can learn from the best and brightest faculty, and can make a positive difference in the community, the state and the world. The University of Alabama family has always expected great things. After all, we are our state’s flagship university — the Capstone of higher education.

Samford University is Alabama’s top-ranked private university with nationally ranked academic programs rooted in the university’s Christian mission. Located in suburban Birmingham, Samford was founded in 1841 and is the 87th oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It enrolls 5,471 students from 47 states and 29 countries in 10 academic units: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. In 2015, U.S. News and World Report ranked Samford 4th among regional universities in the South. Samford also has been nationally ranked for academic programs, value and affordability by such prestigious publications and rankings as Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, The Princeton Review and Colleges of Distinction, among others. Samford offers 30 undergraduate and graduate/professional degrees. There are 158 undergraduate majors, minors and concentrations. Graduate/professional degrees are offered in business, divinity, design studies, education, health professions, environmental management, law, music, nursing, pharmacy and public health. The university’s College of Health Sciences is adding many new undergraduate and graduate/professional programs in the next few years. The faculty-to-student ratio is 1:12, and no classes are taught by teaching assistants. Among Samford’s 49,000-plus alumni are more than 60 U.S. congressmen, seven state governors, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, four Rhodes Scholars, multiple Emmy and Grammy award-winning artists, two national championship football coaches, and recipients of the Pulitzer and Nobel Peace prizes. The university fields 17 varsity sports—eight men’s and nine women’s—that participate at the NCAA Division I level in the Southern Conference. Samford has an annual economic impact of $335.1 million on the state of Alabama.

The University of South Carolina is home to more than 200 years of history and tradition, rising from a single building in 1805 on what would become the heart of the campus, the Horseshoe. The 11 buildings that now make up the Horseshoe frame a lush lawn that is an irresistible gathering place. The university is expanding west toward the Congaree River in support of its research initiatives in nanotechnology, health sciences, Future Fuels™, the environment and information technologies. This innovation district, Innovista, includes a master plan for policy, physical infrastructure and support elements for job creation and growth in the knowledge economy. Innovista promises to be an economic catalyst that will raise the state’s per-capita income and quality of life by attracting knowledge-based businesses and high-paying jobs to an urban research university campus within a community that has a high livability appeal. Joining the flagship campus in Columbia, are four-year campuses in Aiken, Beaufort and Upstate (Spartanburg andGreenville). Four two-year campuses in Lancaster, Sumter, Salkehatchie (Allendale and Walterboro) and Union help the university cover the state. In addition, the University of South Carolina's: Columbia campus has 324 degree programs through its 14 degree-granting colleges and schools. Students have been awarded more than $16.7 million for national scholarships and fellowships since 1994. Faculty generated $238 million in funding for research, outreach and training programs in fiscal year 2012. Carolina is one of only 63 public universities listed by the Carnegie Foundation in the highest tier of research institutions in the U.S.

The University of Tennessee (also referred to as the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, UT Knoxville, UT, or UTK) is a public sun-grant and land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee entered the Union as the 16th state, it is the flagship institution of the statewide University of Tennessee system with nine undergraduate colleges and eleven graduate colleges and hosts almost 28,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries.