The Samford acceptance rate is 82%. For Fall 2024, Samford University in Birmingham received 4,559 applications, admitted about 3,738 of them, and roughly 1,084 enrolled.
Samford also charges $40,150 in tuition and fees, against $11,684 at the University of Alabama and $11,640 at UAB.
So the question this page exists to answer is not whether you will get in, because at 82% you probably will. It is what the roughly $7,000 a year you will pay above the flagship, after Samford's discounting, actually buys. There are four candidate answers and the data supports two of them.
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The Samford Acceptance Rate and What It Does Not Buy
| Measure, Fall 2024 | Figure |
| Applications | 4,559 |
| Acceptance rate | 82% (79% of men, 84% of women) |
| Admitted (derived) | about 3,738 |
| Share of admits who enrolled | 29% |
| Enrolled (derived) | about 1,084 |
| Tuition and fees (2024-25) | $40,150 |
Federal data publishes Samford's rates rather than its counts, so the admitted and enrolled figures above are derived.
Candidate answer one: selectivity. The data says no.
This is the one most people assume they are buying, and at Samford they are not.
| * | Samford | University of Alabama | UAB |
| Acceptance | 82% | 71.2% | 88.2% |
| ACT middle 50% | 22 to 28 | 22 to 31 | 23 to 30 |
| Share submitting ACT | 66% | 53% | 43% |
Samford admits a larger share of applicants than the University of Alabama, and its enrolled class has a lower ACT ceiling than either public: 28 at the 75th percentile against Tuscaloosa's 31 and UAB's 30. Its floor matches Tuscaloosa's at 22 and sits a point below UAB's.
This comparison is unusually trustworthy because Samford has the second-highest ACT submission rate in the state at 66%, behind only Auburn's 75%. Two-thirds of its class submitted, so the range describes the class rather than a confident fringe.
On SAT sections, Samford reports 550 to 640 for reading and writing and 520 to 610 for maths. No composite range is published and adding the section endpoints would not produce a valid one, so none is given here.
The conclusion is plain: paying Samford's premium does not buy a more selective peer group by any published measure. If academic selectivity is what you want from a private university, Samford is not where the premium goes.
Candidate answer two: a guaranteed award. The data says yes, with a caveat.
100% of Samford's full-time first-time undergraduates received institutional grant aid, averaging $21,317.
Every single one. Nobody in the entering class pays the sticker price, which makes $40,150 a list price in the retail sense rather than a figure anyone is charged.
| Derived | Amount |
| Published tuition and fees (2024-25) | $40,150 |
| Average institutional grant (2023-24) | $21,317 |
| Implied discount rate | about 53% |
| Average net tuition | about $18,833 |
Two honest caveats. The grant figure is 2023-24 and the tuition figure 2024-25, so the discount rate is approximate. And an average is not a quote: half of students received less than $21,317.
This is the same universal-discounting model as the University of Portland, which discounts around 68%, and it means the only number worth having is your own. Samford's net price calculator is the route to it, and running it before you shortlist is worth more than everything else on this page.
Candidate answer three: a smaller, more personal institution. The data supports this.
Samford enrolled about 1,084 first-year students. The University of Alabama enrolled 8,127. Auburn admitted 46% of 55,056 applicants.
That is roughly a seven-to-one difference in entering class size against Tuscaloosa, and it is the clearest structural difference between them. Everything that follows from scale, class sizes, access to faculty, how long it takes to be recognised rather than processed, runs in Samford's favour and is not visible in any selectivity statistic.
Samford also converts only 29% of its admits, which tells you it loses most cross-admits to larger and cheaper institutions. For the students who do choose it, that is close to a self-selected community, which some people want a great deal.
Candidate answer four: specific professional programmes and a religious affiliation. Not quantifiable here, and not therefore worth less.
Samford is a Christian university with a Baptist heritage, and it is known for health sciences, nursing, pharmacy, business and law. Neither the affiliation nor the programme reputation shows up in an acceptance rate, and for a substantial share of applicants one or both is the entire reason Samford is on the list.
No published data on this page can tell you whether that is worth $7,000 a year. It is a values question rather than a data question, and it is a legitimate one.
The Honest Case Against Samford
A page that only interrogated the premium and then endorsed it would not be much use.
It is not more selective than the state flagship, and its ACT ceiling is three points below Tuscaloosa's. If the peer group is what you are buying, look again.
The need-met figure is not published and could not be retrieved. For a private university charging $40,150, that is the single most important missing number, more important than the acceptance rate this page is nominally about. For reference, the University of Alabama meets 62.7% of demonstrated need and UAB meets 39.8%. Ask Samford's financial aid office directly what percentage of demonstrated need it meets, and ask before you apply rather than after you are admitted. If the answer is below Tuscaloosa's 62.7%, the premium is larger in practice than the sticker comparison suggests.
Your net price is a lottery with a good average. A universal 53% discount is generous, but half of students get less than $21,317, and nothing in the published data says what the distribution looks like at the bottom.
And the alternative is genuinely strong. An Alabama resident can attend the state flagship for $11,684, or UAB for $11,640, both with ACT profiles equal to or better than Samford's. In most states the private alternative is competing against a weaker public sector. In Alabama it is not.
Who Samford Actually Suits
Students who want a small university. About 1,084 in the entering class against 8,127 at Tuscaloosa. This is the one advantage the data supports unambiguously, and for students who would be lost at a flagship it is decisive.
Students who want a Christian university, for whom the affiliation is the point rather than a feature.
Students in Samford's professional programmes, particularly the health sciences, where the institution's reputation runs ahead of its admissions profile.
Students whose net price comes in well below the average. If Samford offers you materially more than $21,317, the premium over the publics shrinks or disappears, and the small-institution advantage comes free.
Who should choose a public instead. Alabama residents optimising on cost, who save roughly $7,000 a year net at Tuscaloosa or UAB. Students for whom selectivity or peer academic profile matters, since Samford trails both publics on ACT range. Students with high financial need, at least until Samford tells them its need-met percentage in writing. And anyone drawn by the 82% acceptance rate itself, which is not a meaningful distinction in a state where UAB admits 88.2%.
Samford sits in Birmingham, so housing is set by that city's market rather than by the university, and it is the one cost here that responds to a decision rather than an award letter. Student housing in Birmingham is the comparison to run against whatever on-campus figure Samford quotes, and for scale UAB's own housing and food charge in the same city is $13,240.
The Verdict
The Samford acceptance rate of 82% tells you almost nothing, which is true of nearly every acceptance rate in Alabama: the state's institutions admit between 71% and 88% of applicants and the published rates do not separate them.
What separates Samford is that it is small, religiously affiliated, strong in specific professional fields, and discounted by about 53% for every student who enrols. What does not separate it is academic selectivity, where it trails both large publics despite costing roughly $7,000 a year more after aid.
Buy the smallness and the programmes if those are what you want. Do not buy the assumption that a private price means a more selective institution, because at Samford the numbers say otherwise. And get the need-met percentage before you commit.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Samford acceptance rate?
82% for Fall 2024, from 4,559 applications, with 79% of men and 84% of women admitted. Roughly 3,738 applicants were admitted and about 1,084 enrolled, a yield of 29%. The admitted and enrolled counts are derived, because federal data publishes Samford's rates rather than its raw numbers.
What is the Samford University acceptance rate compared with Alabama's public universities?
Samford admits 82%, the University of Alabama 71.2% and UAB 88.2%, so Samford sits between the two and is less selective than the flagship. On test scores it trails both: Samford's ACT middle 50% is 22 to 28 against Tuscaloosa's 22 to 31 and UAB's 23 to 30. That comparison is reliable because 66% of Samford's class submits an ACT.
How much does Samford cost?
$40,150 in tuition and fees for 2024-25. But 100% of full-time first-time undergraduates received institutional grant aid averaging $21,317 in 2023-24, an implied discount of about 53% and an average net tuition near $18,833. Nobody in the entering class pays the published price, so the figure that matters is your own from Samford's net price calculator.
Does Samford give everyone a scholarship?
Effectively yes. Federal data shows 100% of full-time, first-time undergraduates received institutional grant or scholarship aid, averaging $21,317. The caveat is that an average is not a quote: half of students received less than that, and Samford does not publish the distribution. It is the same universal-discounting model used by many private universities.
Does Samford require SAT or ACT scores?
No, Samford is test-optional, considering scores if submitted. In practice most students submit an ACT: 66% did so against 25% submitting an SAT, the second-highest ACT share in Alabama after Auburn's 75%. The ACT middle 50% is 22 to 28. On SAT sections, reading and writing is 550 to 640 and maths 520 to 610; no composite range is published.
Is Samford worth the money compared with the University of Alabama?
It depends entirely on what you want. Samford's entering class is about 1,084 against Tuscaloosa's 8,127, so the small-institution advantage is real and the data supports it. What the data does not support is a selectivity advantage: Samford's ACT ceiling is three points below Tuscaloosa's while costing roughly $7,000 a year more after average aid. Buy it for size, programme or affiliation, not for peer academic profile.
What percentage of financial need does Samford meet?
Not published, and it could not be retrieved for this page. That omission matters more than the acceptance rate: for a university charging $40,150, the need-met percentage determines your actual bill. The University of Alabama meets 62.7% and UAB 39.8%, so ask Samford's financial aid office for its figure directly, and ask before applying rather than after being admitted.
How many students enrol at Samford each year?
About 1,084 first-year students, derived from 4,559 applicants at 82% admitted and 29% of admits enrolling. That is roughly a seventh of the University of Alabama's entering class of 8,127. The low 29% yield indicates Samford loses most of its cross-admitted students to larger and cheaper institutions.