AAICU recently held their annual board meeting and enjoyed conversation with Speaker of the House Nathaniel Ledbetter. He was elected Speaker in January 2023. Ledbetter reviewed the most recent legislative session and viewed it as a very positive one. The Speaker also expressed his strong support for making advances in the state's approach to mental health. Alabama is making strides in higher education, but there’s more we can do to benefit our students and supply our workforce. We look forward to working on more solutions next session with Speaker Ledbetter and the legislature. The AAICU Board expressed their continuing gratitude for the legislators' support of the Alabama Student Grant Program.

Record enrollments, undergraduate students on campus, and the buzz of intercollegiate athletics made the first day of the fall semester exciting on the campus of the United States Sports Academy (USSA).

Known around the world as America’s Sports University, USSA more than doubled its enrollment year over year from fall 2022 to fall 2023. The increase makes USSA effectively the fastest growing university in the state of Alabama. The boost in enrollments came on the heels of the introduction of new president Dr. Steve Condon in January 2023. Condon made enrollment his top priority, and the results are evident.

USSA dean of sport business Dr. Brandon Spradley is a veteran teacher on the USSA campus and is a former collegiate athlete himself, having been part of the track and field team at the University of Alabama as an undergraduate student. In addition to his online teaching responsibilities, Spradley is teaching USSA’s undergraduate level Contemporary Issues in Sport course to first-time freshman students on campus.

“I’m so excited to have students on campus,” Spradley said. “We’ve been doing online teaching for quite some time, and we’ve done that very well. But I love the hands-on, practical application teaching we can do in person, on campus. The class I’m teaching gets into so many of the current issues that are going on in sport, so it is a good start for these students. I’m excited to help them grow their skill set, increase their knowledge, and help them figure out what they want to do in the sport profession.”

Faulkner University's leadership made the decision to again implement a tuition freeze for the 2024-2025 academic school year. Faulkner University President Mitch Henry made the announcement earlier this month that the university will not be raising tuition costs for traditional full-time students enrolling next fall.

This marks two consecutive years with no tuition increase. The first tuition freeze was announced in January 2023, which covers the current 2023-2024 academic school year. Additionally, Faulkner does not, and will not charge out of state tuition rates.

“We understand the state of the current economy is still creating financial struggles for families,” Henry said. “We don’t want that to be the reason they decide against a Christian higher education. We want to ease their financial burden as much as possible. Hopefully by implementing this second freeze on tuition costs they find some relief as they look to enroll their future graduating seniors into college. We would love for them to consider Faulkner University.”

Apply now at myfaulkner.org and become a part of the exciting changes on campus. Faulkner University is committed to training students in vocational ministry regardless of their field of study. We understand how important it is to inspire young men and women to minister to others, serve their communities and become leaders wherever they go after graduation.