Recent Accolades

National Recognitions

Birmingham-Southern College receives consistently high rankings as one of America's top national liberal arts colleges.

Colleges that Change Lives

Birmingham-Southern is one of them.

Colleges That Change Lives’ author Loren Pope has once again shined the spotlight on Birmingham-Southern as being one of 40 colleges that are “outdoing the Ivy League schools and the major universities in producing winners.” The former New York Times education editor profiles 40 colleges that excel at developing potential, values, initiative and risk-taking in a wide range of students. Read more at www.ctcl.com.

The 2008 issue of Fiske Guide to Colleges includes Birmingham-Southern as one of 26 private institutions in the nation as a Best Buy for the “quality of the academic offerings in relation to the cost of attendance.” The 24th edition of the book, recently placed on bookstore shelves and online, is edited annually by former New York Times education editor Edward B. Fiske.

Birmingham-Southern has again been listed by The Princeton Review as one of the top institutions in the country offering students best value. The Princeton Review published its findings in the 2008 edition of America’s Best Value Colleges released in March 2007. The annual college guidebook profiles 165 public and private colleges with excellent academics, generous financial aid packages, and relatively low costs.

The John Templeton Foundation’s Honor Roll for Character-Building Colleges has again recognized Birmingham-Southern for emphasizing character building as an integral part of the college experience. The Honor Roll, which profiles 100 colleges and universities biennially, was established in 1989 to encourage character development in institutions of higher education.

AACSB Internationa

Birmingham-Southern is one of only six baccalaureate-liberal arts institutions in the country as classified by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to hold both AACSB International—The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation and the designation of Phi Beta Kappa. AACSB International is the world’s premier accrediting agency for business schools.

2007 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll

Birmingham-Southern’s commitment to building a culture of service and civic engagement among its faculty and students has earned the college a spot on the 2007 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction. Only 127 schools were named as Honor Roll with distinction members. In all, 528 schools were recognized. The program, launched by The Corporation for National and Community Service in 2006 in response to President George W. Bush’s call to service initiative, is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.

Birmingham-Southern is recognized as one of the nation’s top 30 colleges by The Washington Times, as well as in Choosing the Right College: The Whole Truth About America’s Top Schools, Best 201 Colleges for the Real World, Washington Post staff writer Jay Mathews’ “100 Colleges Worth Considering,” and Kaplan Publishing’s The Unofficial, Unbiased, Insider’s Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges. BSC has also been included among "America's Best Christian Colleges" by Institutional Research and Evaluation Inc.

Other Points of Pride

The college’s new Environmental Park and Lake Area is currently under construction on the west end of campus adjacent to the residence hall quad. The park will be both a place of recreation and leisure for students as well as an academic laboratory for the study of environmental issues. In addition, the area will include a pavilion, amphitheatre, boat house, and terraced seating that borders the existing intramural fields and EcoScape gardens.
The college recently opened its new Admission Welcome Center. This stately manor near the Striplin Fitness and Recreation Center will serve as the "first glimpse" of campus and host prospective future students and their parents as they visit Birmingham-Southern during the college decision process.
Construction on Birmingham-Southern’s new athletics complex, located on the northwest side of campus began in 2006 and will be completed in phases. Phase I of construction of the complex—which included the athletics building, practice field, and state-of-the-art competition field with turf surface—was completed this past October.
Jessica Headley, a senior political science major from Hoover, was selected for a 2007 national Daily Points of Light Award for her volunteer work in educating young people about the importance of character. Headley, who was showcased on The Points of Light Foundation’s Web site March 21, was selected for the prestigious award based upon the nonprofit corporation she founded in 2005 called P.R.A.I.S.E. Inc. (Promoting Responsibility, Awareness, Integrity, Service, and Education). Headley will use the topic “P.R.A.I.S.E.” as a community service platform when she vies for the Miss Alabama title in June as the reigning Miss Point Mallard.
Birmingham-Southern senior Sirena Wang of Madison was a top five finalist in the Miss Chinese International 2007 Pageant held in January near Hong Kong. Wang earned the right to compete at the international pageant after she took the national crown of Miss New York Chinese in August. A double major in international business and music, she is an accomplished pianist and a member of the BSC air rifle team.
Jim Neel, a Birmingham-Southern assistant professor of art and 1971 BSC alumnus, has won a residency through the Kohler Arts/Industry Program and will spend 11 weeks this summer and fall creating a life-size sculpture of chimpanzee soldiers. Neel is one of 18 artists who won the competitive international residency this year with his proposal to create a sculpture installation entitled “Babel,” comprised of 50 life-size chimpanzee soldiers made of slip cast porcelain. He will work in the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis., from July 28-Oct. 11 having 24-hour access to the Kohler factory where the company creates its bathroom fixtures.