[7] The university offers programs of study in 12 academic divisions leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctoral degrees.

In 1818, the United States Congress authorized the newly created Alabama Territory to set aside a township for the establishment of a "seminary of learning".

There were several thriving literary societies, including the Erosophic and the Phi Beta Kappa societies, which often had lectures by such distinguished politicians and literary figures as United States Supreme Court justice John Archibald Campbell, novelist William Gilmore Simms, and professor Frederick Barnard.

[10] The addresses to those societies reveal a vibrant intellectual culture in Tuscaloosa; they also illustrate the proslavery ideas that were so central to the university and the state.

[1] Students were prohibited from drinking, swearing, making unauthorized visits off-campus, or playing musical instruments for more than an hour at a time.

To combat the severe discipline problem, president Landon Garland received approval from the legislature in 1860 to transform the university into a military school.

As a consequence of that role, Union troops burned the campus on April 4, 1865, only five days before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

In the face of violent protests against her attendance, Lucy was suspended (and later outright expelled) three days later by the board of trustees on the basis of being unable to provide a safe learning environment for her.

In 2019 Autherine Lucy was presented with a doctorate of humane letters, and in 2022 the education building in which she sheltered during the protests was renamed in her honor.

A cemetery next to the Math and Science Education Building includes the graves of two enslaved persons who were owned by faculty members before the Civil War.

The university has a very high level[49] of research activity and has a "comprehensive doctoral" graduate instructional program in the liberal arts, humanities, social sciences.

[58] Latin honors are conferred on graduates completing a bachelor's degree for the first time (including at other universities) with an overall grade point average of at least 3.5.

[84] The William E. Winter Reading Room of the College of Communication and Information Sciences is in Reese Phifer Hall and holds more than 10,000 volumes.

[87] In the fall of 2011, the University of Alabama Trustees approved a resolution to expand Gorgas Library by 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2), doubling the seating capacity from 1,139 to 2,278.

The US Department of Homeland Security has selected The University of Alabama as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Information Assurance Education and Research.

Since its founding in 1914, a secretive coalition of fraternities and sororities, commonly known as "The Machine", has wielded enormous influence over the Student Government Association.

[96] "Machine" fraternities and sororities have traditionally accepted only white pledges, with only one documented case of an African American student being offered entry, in 2003.

[97][98] Controversy surrounding The Machine reemerged in August 2013, when sororities and fraternities were mobilized to elect two former SGA presidents, Cason Kirby and Lee Garrison, in closely contested municipal school board races.

[99] Before election day, questions about illegal voter registration were raised when evidence emerged that indicated eleven fraternity members fraudulently claimed to be living in a single house in one district.

[100] And on election day, leaked emails suggested that sorority/fraternity members may have been provided incentives to vote—including free drinks at local bars.

[106] When DKE members began holding secret meetings in the old state capitol building that year, the administration strongly voiced its disapproval.

[113][114][115] Controversy erupted again in September 2013, when a story in the campus paper, The Crimson White, revealed that alumnae of Greek organizations had prevented a black student from being accepted in an all-white sorority.

The Crimson White was also inducted into the College Media Hall of Fame for its coverage of the April 2011 tornado that caused massive damage in Tuscaloosa.

Writing about the game, one sportswriter described the offensive line as a "Crimson Tide", in reference to their jerseys, stained red from the wet dirt.

The athletic facilities on campus include Bryant–Denny Stadium, named after legendary football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and former UA President George Denny, and the 14,619-seat Coleman Coliseum.

The University of Alabama football program, started in 1892, has won 30 SEC titles and 18 national championships (including 12 awarded by the Associated Press and 8 by the Coaches Poll).

Alabama has produced 18 hall-of-famers, 97 All-Americans honored 105 times, and 4 Heisman trophy winners (Mark Ingram II, Derrick Henry, DeVonta Smith, and Bryce Young).

The Tide has also played many games, including the Iron Bowl against rival Auburn University, at Legion Field in Birmingham.

They would then go on to beat the Cincinnati Bearcats 27–6 in the Cotton Bowl, culminating in an eventual loss to Georgia in the National Championship by a score of 33–18.

[136][137] The University of Alabama is the alma mater of numerous notable people in politics, sports, business, entertainment, science, art, and literature.