University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive, regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions.
Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is situated within a four-city area that is known as the Shoals and includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield and Tuscumbia. UNA is Alabama’s oldest state-funded institution and will commemorate its bicentennial in January of 2030.
UNA is home to more than 10,000 students and offers almost 150 majors and concentrations. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and offers a variety of study abroad programs, flexible scheduling and online programs. UNA is known as Alabama’s workforce development university because of its focus on programs that result in jobs for graduates who fill much-needed roles in the area, the state and region.
UNA recently opened a Computing and Mathematics Building that offers classrooms, faculty offices and scenic views of UNA’s historic campus. UNA places among the most elite colleges and universities in the U.S. as part of the Great Places to Work For program, recognized in each of the 10 categories in the program.
In addition, UNA is home to more than a dozen individuals who have been accepted to the Fulbright U.S. Students, the U.S. government’s flagship international educational exchange program, and UNA is home to the AASCB-accredited Sanders College of Business and Technology.
UNA’s Shine On, Gold comprehensive campaign to raise $100 million is off to a good start. And the Bank Independent University of North Alabama stadium project is underway.Â
UNA athletics, with seven Division II National Championships, is now a member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences.
Northwest Shoals Community College
Northwest Shoals Community College (NWSCC) has provided postsecondary and workforce education for more than 60 years. It offers more than 100 certificate and degree offerings, with both academic and career technical options.
It has two campuses, one in Muscle Shoals and one in Phil Campbell in Franklin County. Enrollment as of spring 2024 is more than 4,200. The college employs just under 500 people from the community, 215 full-time and 284 part-time employees.
The college is well-known for its health studies programs. Students can pursue associate degrees in diagnostic medical sonography, medical assisting technology, emergency medical services, radiography and registered nursing; career certificates for licensed practical nursing and paramedics; and short-term certificates for nursing assistants and EMTs. Medical laboratory technology programs will be added in spring of 2025.
The college also has a reputation for successfully preparing students and workers for technical careers. It works with local employers to meet workforce development needs and is the premier option for retraining area workers. Local industries look to the school to develop and customize curriculum to meet their needs and educate underemployed workers.
In fall 2021, Northwest Shoals Community College announced the reinstatement of athletic programs. Beginning in fall 2022, NWSCC fielded baseball and softball teams. That has grown to five teams: baseball, men’s cross country, women’s cross country, softball and volleyball (starting in 2025). Teams compete against various opponents within the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) and National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA).Â
NWSCC offers apprenticeship programs for advanced manufacturing, automotive service, heating, ventilation and air conditioning. Apprenticeships have proven useful for recruiting, training and retaining top industry talent in an increasingly competitive market.
Specific apprenticeship programs include the FAME program, an industrial maintenance apprenticeship. During the five-semester program, students attend school two days per week and work for a sponsoring business 24-plus hours per week. Also, the AMPEd program is an advanced manufacturing apprenticeship program that provides work-based learning opportunities to students in industrial systems, machine shop, welding, electrical technology and design engineering.
Further, the NWSCC Power5 HVAC apprenticeship program was the first nationally recognized, competency-based HVAC apprenticeship program in Alabama; and PACE is an automotive service technology apprenticeship where students are given the chance to apply concepts they have learned through ASE-certified instruction while working with a sponsoring business.
The college’s Department of Strategic Partnerships and Industry Training offers several non-credit options and partners with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District 711, Local 65 to sign machinist apprentices into a machinist apprenticeship program. It is a non-credit pathway to a career as a machinist for the Tennessee Valley Authority and its partner contractors.
NWSCC is currently engaged in a major campus renovation and construction project of more than $30 million on the Phil Campbell campus.
Heritage Christian University
Heritage Christian University is a private, nonprofit institution in Florence affiliated with the Churches of Christ. HCU is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education.
HCU offers associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in religious fields and offers distance learning options.
The Heritage Christian University Graduate School of Theology is seeking accreditation from the Commission on Accrediting.
HCU and the University of North Alabama also have an articulation agreement to facilitate transfer credit and graduate program enrollment. The colleges already have a strong relationship with shared faculty and a contract between Collier Library at UNA and Overton Memorial Library at HCU.
This article appears in the October 2024 issue of Business Alabama.
