Today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders rely on the generosity of alumni and friends of the Capstone.
There are numerous opportunities to invest in the lives of UA students. Whether you choose to provide funding for scholarships, support the University’s fundraising priorities, establish an endowment or show your loyalty through the Annual Fund, every gift to UA makes a significant impact.
From building projects to scholarships, you can support a wide variety of programs at UA.
Prominence: Faculty endowments
During each commencement ceremony, The University of Alabama of Alabama faculty in attendance are recognized as “the lifeblood of our University.”
Indeed, faculty play a critical role in the one-of-a-kind student experience at UA. They are teachers, researchers and mentors, providing top-flight instruction and boundless opportunities for students to innovate and discover.
Faculty-driven research initiatives push the boundaries of knowledge, often involving students as collaborators, thereby enriching their educational experience. This symbiotic relationship between teaching and research not only elevates the University’s academic standing but also prepares students to become informed leaders and contributors to society.
The Prominence Pillar of UA’s Rising Tide 2.0 Capital Campaign recognizes these impacts and aims to significantly increase the faculty endowments at UA by September 2026, when the Campaign draws to a close.
Faculty success at a glance
41 Number of current UA faculty who’ve received NSF Career Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious recognitions of top-performing young scientists.
117,000 Number of times UA faculty publications have been cited between 2020 and 2025.
$270 million Total amount of sponsored research awards in fiscal year 2024, an all-time high in external funding at UA.
Additionally, UA is again listed among the National Academy of Inventors’ Top 100 U.S. Universities Granted U.S. Utility Patents.
Faculty maximizing endowment resources
Fayard Chair leading literacy research in West Alabama
Dr. Amy Hutchison has spent 20 years studying ways to remove barriers to digital literacy and ensure students grow congruently with technology. As the Fayard Endowed Chair in Literacy Education, Hutchison leads NSF-funded community-based literacy research in communities surrounding UA.
Business professor studying links between real estate, transportation
Dr. Jonathan Hall, the M. Christian Mitchell Professor of Real Estate at The University of Alabama, focuses on three broad research themes: understanding and addressing traffic congestion; evaluating the impacts of new transportation technologies on cities; and improving transportation safety.
Campus facilities projects
Student Well-Being Hub
The Student Well-Being Hub is a transformative addition to campus, designed to unify and elevate student wellness services across the University and support every aspect of student life – mental, emotional, physical, and social – by embedding wellness into the broader culture of campus.
This collaborative space will bring together four key departments – the Counseling Center, Collegiate Recovery and Intervention Services (CRIS), Health Promotion & Wellness (HPW) and the Camellia Center – in one central location, providing students with a holistic, accessible and integrated approach to health and well-being.
There are a number of legacy-building naming opportunities available in the Student Well-Being Hub. Learn more about each area to find out which opportunities are still available and which have already been sponsored by one of our generous naming partners.
RISE Center Playscape
For the 50th anniversary of Alabama RISE, the program aims to transform its playground into a playscape, making the outside space 99% accessible for all children at RISE. A playscape utilizes more natural features rather than equipment, allowing for increased accessibility and greater opportunities for children to use their imaginations and immerse themselves in an atmosphere that represents nature.
The playscape will be a model program for the country in ensuring true accessibility for children of all ability levels. It will include a shallow water feature that flows throughout the playscape, natural features for climbing, trees and open spaces.
For more information, email Jordyn Pruitt, Director of Development for the College of Human Environmental Sciences.
Scholarships
The creation of scholarships to honor distinguished faculty, alumni and friends of The University of Alabama is of vital significance to the many students who receive the awards each year. Some of the best and brightest students cannot afford today’s tuition, but scholarships open up a world of possibilities to them, making the dream of a college education a reality. Numerous scholarships have been established by individuals, groups and businesses through charitable contributions to UA. When you fund a scholarship, you make a profound difference for individual students and for the lives they touch as UA graduates.
Establish a Scholarship
You can choose to establish an annual scholarship or create an endowment in your name or in honor of a loved one. Scholarships can also be directed to a particular major, field of study or geographic region.
Create an Annual Scholarship
An annual scholarship provides a yearly award to students who meet the criteria established by you and the University. The scholarship may be established with a one-time gift of $1,000 or more, after which, awards are made until the funds are diminished or the donor may contribute the amount of the award every year.
Create an Endowed Scholarship
Scholarship endowments are crucial to the future of UA because they provide assistance to students for generations to come. A minimum donation of $50,000 is required to establish an endowment and can be made with a one-time gift or pledged over a five-year period. The principal is invested and a portion of the return is used each year to support the scholarship. The remainder is added back to the principal to promote growth and protect against inflation.
For more information on how you can establish a scholarship, contact the Division of Advancement by calling 205-348-4767.