UAH recruiting new students affected by Birmingham-Southern closure

With news this week of the plan to close Birmingham-Southern College at the end of the semester, officials with the University of Alabama in Huntsville want to reach out to BSC students to get them to transfer to UAH.

UAH — and the entire University of Alabama system — is trying to make transferring easier on these displaced students.

Making it easy to transfer to UAH

The University of Alabama System will offer an expedited transfer process to all eligible students currently enrolled at Birmingham-Southern College.

The expedited transfer process will be available at all UA System campuses, including UAH.

Steps to ease the transfer processinclude:

• Any Birmingham-Southern student interested in transferring to a UA institution will receive waived application fees and expedited review and credit transfer processing, if eligible. 
• Each UA System institution will work with accepted students on an individual basis to create a competitive financial aid package to the greatest extent possible based on available funding and student eligibility.
• UA System campuses will maximize Birmingham-Southern students’ transfer credits to help work toward timely degree completion.
• Academic advisors and discipline-specific program personnel will work closely with affected students to apply their credits to the appropriate degree program and facilitate the transfer process based on each eligible student’s unique needs.

Deadlines will be adjusted as necessary to accommodate affected students.

Birmingham-Southern students interested in transferring to UAH are encouraged to apply for transfer as soon as possible and to contact Chris Pinto with any questions.

The closure of Birmingham-Southern College

Officials with Birmingham-Southern College announced this week that after nearly 160 years in operation, the school would close permanently May 31, 2024. Financial woes over the last several years have affected the school’s ability to operate, and a proposed funding solution was voted down by the Alabama State Legislature.

“The Board of Trustees voted unanimously today to close the College after a 2024 bill designed to amend the 2023 legislation that established the loan program on which our future depended failed to win sufficient support in the Alabama House of Representatives. Without that funding, the College does not have the resources to continue.”

Keith Thompson, Chair of the Birmingham-Southern College Board of Trustees

Thompson said BSC leadership has already begun detailed planning for students who will be forced to transfer to other institutions as well as those who had planned to complete degree requirements this summer.

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