University of Alabama System to Raise Tuition for Students on All 3 Campuses

The University of Alabama System's Board of Trustees voted to raise tuition for students on all three of its campuses on Friday, raising the cost of education for both in-state and out-of-state students by about 3 percent.

In a Thursday committee meeting, Dr. Dana Keith, the senior vice chancellor for Finance & Administration, said the adjustments are necessary because of the rising costs of education across the board.

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"As everyone in this room knows, this University of Alabama System has an unwavering commitment to providing an accessible path to a premiere education experience, especially for Alabama residents," she said. "In keeping with this important commitment, and thanks to diligent fiscal management and responsibility across our system, we have proudly been able to hold [in-state] tuition flat for multiple years since announcing an unprecedented tuition freeze in 2019."

That won't be possible for the '25-26 academic year, she said, and rates will increase for all students in Tuscaloosa, Birmnigham and Huntsville.

"It is clear that our trustees and our UA system leaders consider any potential changes in tuition in a very careful, thorough and thoughtful manner. Any time there is a proposed increase, it is because we have determined it is truly necessary," she said. "Similar to our analysis last year, we continued to see significant increases in mandatory and day-to-day operating expenses essential to supporting our most important priorities - our students and our employees."

The in-state tuition will climb by 2.67 percent at the University of Alabama, 2.9 percent at UAB and just over 3 percent at UAH.

Out-of-state tuition will spike even higher, with a 3.5 percent increase at UA and an increase of 3.0 percent at the other two schools.

The changes, which were approved by the full board of trustees on Friday, will increase the average cost of a semester's tuition for non-residents to $17,271 at UA, $14,490 at UAB and $12,695 at UAH.

"We have thoroughly vetted and benchmarked these adjustments to our peer institutions to ensure our University's tuition rates remain at or below average amongst our peers," Keith said.

Alabama residents can expect to spend $5,842 for a semester at UA, $5,820 at UAB and $5,345 at UAH.

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