
Auburn University at Montgomery
Auburn University at Montgomery offers more than 90 areas of study at the undergraduate and graduate level in its five colleges and is the city’s largest four-year college. The university awarded 1,343 degrees for the 2023-2024 academic year, the largest number in recent memory, and had 5,219 students enrolled for fall 2024.
AUM has been recognized as one of the best regional universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report, placing 32nd among all public regional universities in the South and 65th overall among its peers. It has also been recognized as one of the best undergraduate universities in the South by the Princeton Review.
The school is highly regarded for its work with military members and families and has been awarded gold status among Military Friendly Schools.
Other academic accolades include a 100% pass rate for AUM nursing students who are first-time takers of the National Council Licensure Exam and a 100% pass rate for the certification exam for family nurse practitioner graduate program students. And for the sixth consecutive year, education students had a 100% pass rate on the Praxis test.
AUM has converted a former Alabama State Forensic Lab into a $36 million, 57,000-square-foot Science and Technology Complex slated to open in January 2025.
New programs at AUM include a master’s in biochemistry and molecular biology; a business master’s in artificial intelligence and a doctorate in education focusing on instructional technology, instructional systems and learning sciences.

Alabama State University
Founded in 1867, Alabama State University is one of the country’s oldest historically Black colleges and universities. It offers more than 64 academic programs in its seven colleges, including 35 undergraduate and 29 graduate degree programs.
ASU also offers opportunities for an active student life. It is a Division 1 member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and has 18 intercollegiate athletic teams. It is also home to a large number of sororities and fraternities, a student government association, the Mighty Marching Hornets Band and an acclaimed performing arts program.
Dr. Quinton T. Ross has served as ASU’s 15th president since 2017 and has enhanced traditional, online and hybrid learning.
Faulkner University
Faulkner University is a private Christian liberal arts university that offers degree programs online and in-person at campuses throughout the state. The university’s campus in Montgomery caters to working adult students by providing daytime, evening and weekend class options as well as online courses.
Construction is underway on the third and final phase of the university’s College of Health Sciences in Montgomery. In 2020, Faulkner purchased the 13-acre former Montgomery East Plaza Shopping Center and has been renovating it to create labs, classrooms and a community clinic. The nearly $3.6 million final phase includes an exterior facelift, landscaping the parking lot area and adding a bridge that will connect the main campus with the east campus, where the College of Health Sciences is located.
In June 2024, Faulkner signed a partnership with the Montgomery Police Department that provides tuition discounts for MPD officers, staff and their families, as part of an ongoing effort to boost the number of police officers in the city.
Faulkner University has also recently added degree programs in computer engineering and digital media.
In October 2024, the university announced the addition of The Stumbaugh School of Risk Management and Insurance to the Harris College of Business. The program will begin by offering students an accelerated online degree and micro-credentials starting in January 2025. A traditional four-year degree will be available in the fall of 2025.

Huntingdon College
Founded in 1854, Huntingdon is affiliated with the United Methodist Church with a liberal arts academic tradition that prides itself on being one of the South’s premier pre-professional colleges. The college offers 31 academic majors, 25 minors, nine educator preparation programs and a master’s degree in athletic training.
The student body is just under 1,000 with a 14:1 student to faculty ratio that gives students an opportunity to work closely with their professors and get hands-on learning experience. In addition, the Huntingdon Plan ensures that each full-time undergraduate is provided a laptop computer that is theirs to keep at graduation, books and course resources, career services and travel abroad opportunities during their senior year. The last four Huntingdon graduating classes have achieved a 90% placement rate in graduate programs or employment in a professional field.
Outside the classroom, the college offers 21 NCAA Division III athletic teams plus more than 50 clubs and organizations.
In July 2024, Huntingdon welcomed its 15th president, Dr. Anthony Leigh. Leigh previously served as senior vice president for student and institutional development and dean of students at the college. Leigh is a strong supporter of the Heart of Huntingdon Campaign, a fundraising initiative the school launched in the fall of 2023 to add a wellness facility and pool to the campus. In November, the college broke ground on the new pool that is expected to open in the fall of 2025.
Troy University Montgomery Campus
Located in historic downtown Montgomery, Troy University’s Montgomery Campus has been serving students in the River Region since the mid-1960s with a particular focus on meeting the needs of working adults looking to advance their careers or find a new career path.
The Montgomery Campus Associate of Science in Nursing program has been enjoying the spotlight. The campus expanded the ASN program in 2022 to include nighttime classes, and the first evening ASN cohort group graduated in May 2024 and achieved a 100% first-time pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam.
The Montgomery Campus is also home to the Rosa Parks Museum, which welcomes visitors from all over the world. The museum recently received a series of technology upgrades that included converting all analog technology to digital, high definition and completely reproducing the video reenactment of Mrs. Parks’ 1955 arrest that sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Made possible in part by a $150,000 grant from the Daniel Foundation of Alabama, the project is the first phase of a larger plan to upgrade the museum to include the important roles women and local churches played in the success of the boycott.
Trenholm State Community College
The comprehensive two-year community college operates two campuses in Montgomery and is among the state’s fastest-growing community colleges, with an 18.3% enrollment increase in 2024.
Trenholm State offers associate transfer degree opportunities as well as a variety of associate degrees and certificates. Top declared majors include computer information systems, business administration and management, manufacturing engineering and child and human development. In addition, the school provides adult learning and personal development opportunities and business and industry training in support of the economic development of Montgomery and the surrounding region.
Air University
Headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, Air University provides a full range of Air Force education from pre-commissioning to all levels of professional military education, including professional continuing education and graduate education for officers, enlisted and civilian personnel throughout their careers.
The university operates out of four military installations. In Montgomery, AU provides officer and enlisted PME and officer accession programs at Maxwell AFB and Gunter Annex, and the university’s distance-learning PME programs are housed at the Maxwell-Gunter campus. The university’s engineering, science and technology college is located at Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio, and the Air Force Test Pilot School is located at Edwards AFB in California.
More than 50,000 resident and 160,000 non-resident officers, enlisted and civilian personnel graduate from Air University each year.
Amridge University
Amridge University is a private university affiliated with the Churches of Christ whose primary focus is distance learning. The university offers 40 online programs and hundreds of courses at the undergraduate, graduate and doctorate level through its College of General Studies, College of Business and Leadership, School of Education and Human Services and Turner School of Theology. The university also offers dual enrollment opportunities for eligible high school students for up to 16 credit hours.
This article appears in the January 2025 issue of Business Alabama.