University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) Student Demographics

Many people are aware that the University of Alabama Birmingham (commonly referred to as UAB for short) has a proud history of serving students in the southern portion of the United States since its founding in 1936. What many folks do not realize is that the UAB student demographics actually reflect an impact on a global scale that goes far beyond simply reaching young men and women in Alabama and surrounding states like Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. This article aims to show that the UAB student demographics are quite diverse and in many ways serve as a model makeup for peer universities aiming to mimic the diversity found on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Perhaps the most surprising statistic for casual followers of UAB is to learn is that the degree of influence this institution of higher learning has actually makes an impact on a global scale. The total school enrollment of just over 18,000 students represents people from all walks of life as there are 110 different countries representing in what some onlookers would consider a surprisingly diverse student body given the Alabama location which is not normally associated with being an international hub. Even when analyzing the demographics from a purely domestic perspective there is no denying that this college has a makeup comprised of varying backgrounds and ways of thinking that rival any comparable scholastic environment as evident by the fact that student enrollment encapsulates pupils from all 50 states.

The varied makeup of the school goes beyond mere geographical diversity. In fact, from an ethnic diversity perspective UAB posts numbers envied by other colleges aspiring to foster a population make up that promotes such varied viewpoints and backgrounds. While the percentage of Hispanic Americans enrolled at the University of Alabama Birmingham is well below the US percentage of 14.7% the campus wide figure of 1.7% of the student body is about on par with the state population of Alabama which is comprised of 2.9% Latin or Hispanic Americans. Despite the Latin Americans figure UAB actually exceeds nationwide ratios in other areas. In terms of percentage of African Americans (27.1% of the student body) and Asian Americans (4.4% of students) UAB is above both state and nationwide levels. While the percentage of Caucasian students currently attending UAB (65.3%) is below both the state of Alabama (71%) and overall US Census national figure (73.9%) this is generally considered a positive movement for promoting a less homogeneous student body.

There is an applicable old saying along the lines of "two heads are not better than one when they have the same mind" and this is rarely the case with the UAB student demographics that promote both geographical and ethnic diversity school wide so that the whole of the university will be greater than the sum of its parts.