Alabama's Public Liberal Arts University

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Quick Facts about the University of Montevallo

 

 

 

  • Founded October 12, 1896
  • Student population of approximately 3,000, with a student/faculty ratio of 17 to 1
  • Each year, UM enrolls about 475 freshmen from throughout the Southeast. The average ACT composite score for entering freshmen is 23
  • Almost 70 percent of freshmen said UM was their first collegiate choice
  • About half of UM’s entering freshmen say the size of the college and its academic reputation are factors that led to their enrollment
  • Virtually every county in Alabama is represented by UM students. International students represent more than 20 countries
  • More than 30 degree programs with approximately 75 majors
  • Four colleges: College of Arts & Sciences, Michael E. Stephens College of Business, College of Education and College of Fine Arts
  • Accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools since 1925
  • Individual academic programs are nationally accredited by 11 different professional evaluating organizations
  • UM is a member of the prestigious Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges (COPLAC) and is one of 26 public liberal-arts colleges in the U.S.
  • Montevallo is believed to be the first legislatively designated public liberal-arts college
  • The University was the first Alabama institution of higher learning to guarantee its teacher-education graduates
  • UM claimed the first State of Alabama Eminent Scholars Chair, which brings outstanding visiting scholars to the campus

Facilities

  • Picturesque, arboretum-like campus of 160 acres, famous for its red-brick streets and pathways
  • 73 buildings; three antebellum structures
  • Eight residence halls, including one which is open year-’round
  • The central part of campus is a National Historic District
  • The main portion of the campus was designed by the Olmsted Brothers — of the landscape architecture firm famous for designing Central Park in New York City and the Biltmore House grounds in North Carolina
  • UM’s 90,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art Student Activity Center opened in August 2004.

Faculty

  • More than 95 percent of the faculty hold either the doctorate or another terminal degree
  • Montevallo is a teaching institution. Faculty and students have a high degree of interaction, which serves as one of the more prominent areas of satisfaction for students

Alumni

  • UM has about 21,000 active alumni
  • The University’s alumni are represented by the National Alumni Association, established more than a century ago
  • Hundreds of alumni return to the campus each February for Homecoming — and for College Night, known as the longest-running Homecoming tradition of its kind in the nation. College Night was selected as a “Local Legacy” for the Library of Congress’s bicentennial celebration. It is a festival of comedy, drama, music and athletics that actually lasts four nights. The Purples and Golds showcase their talents by presenting original musical productions. College Night debuted in 1919
  • Alumni have made their marks in numerous professional fields, from business to the arts to education. Broadway star and recording artist Rebecca Luker, an ’84 graduate, television/stage/movie actress Polly Holliday ’59, and professional baseball player Rusty Greer ’95 are among UM’s notable graduates

Athletics

  • UM fields 11 NCAA Division II athletic teams that compete in the Peach Belt Conference: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s golf, tennis, men’s and women’s cross-country and volleyball. (Women’s track and field will begin Spring semester 2013.)
  • The University is the home of the Falcons and Lady Falcons
  • Montevallo’s school colors are purple and gold

 

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