University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa, AL
University of Alabama's flagship campus is located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It is one of three wholly independent universities in the University of Alabama system, the other two being the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Within Alabama, the Tuscaloosa campus is often called the Capstone. UA has over 21,750 students enrolled as of the fall of 2005, overseen by 1,122 faculty members.
UA is the only senior doctoral university in the state, and is one of three major research universities. UA offers programs in 12 academic divisions in several degrees: bachelor's, master's,
Education Specialist, J.D., LL.M., and doctoral degrees. It also has the state's only publicly-supported
law school - which is only one of two ABA-accredited law schools within the state itself. It was also ranked as one of the top 50 law schools in the country by
US News & World Report, boasting a number of prestigious alumni such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. UA itself was named a top 50 public university for 2006.
UA athletic teams go by the name Crimson Tide, and participate in the NCAA's Division I as well as the western division of the
Southeastern Conference (SEC). The football team is the school's most nationally notable: having won 21 SEC titles and 12 national championships, it ties for the most in the nation with Notre Dame. The team has also had thirty 10-win seasons, played in 53 bowl games (winning 30 of them), and has produced 19 Hall of Fame members such as Paul "Bear" Bryant, John Hannah, Lee Roy Jordan, Wallace Wade, Riley Smith, and Frank Howard.
The women's gymnastics squad has won five SEC championships, 19 regional titles, and has had 198 All-American honors. It has placed in the top 5 at the NCAA Championships 19 out of the past 21 years and has won the championship 4 times.
UA holds fierce rivalries with Auburn University and the University of Tennessee, as well as lesser rivalries with Louisiana State University, Mississippi State University, and the University of Georgia.
Notable UA alumni include author Mark Childress, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Harper Lee, actress Sela Ward, and former Alabama governor George Wallace.
