Samford is a premier nationally ranked Christian university. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. It enrolls 5,692 students from 47 states and 28 countries.

Samford is the top-ranked university in Alabama in national rankings by The Wall Street Journal. Additionally, The Wall Street Journal ranks Samford 3rd nationally for student engagement. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance ranks Samford 34th among private universities in the U.S. for value and affordability. Samford offers undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts and a distinct blend of graduate and professional schools through 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. The student-to-faculty ratio is 13:1.

Among Samford’s 52,838 alumni have included more than 60 members of the U.S. Congress, eight state governors, two U.S. Supreme Court justices, one Secretary of State, 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’s athletic teams earned a 97% Graduation Success Rate (GSR) by the NCAA. Samford is ranked first in Alabama and 17th in the nation among all colleges and universities in the NCAA Division 1 level.