Birmingham Southern College

What Birmingham Southern College does

Birmingham-Southern College was a private, nonprofit liberal arts college chartered in 1856 and headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama. It offered undergraduate liberal arts education across multiple disciplines, held Alabama's second Phi Beta Kappa chapter (received 1927), produced six Rhodes Scholars, and was recognized as a nationally ranked liberal arts institution. The college served a primary customer segment of traditional undergraduate students and generated revenue through tuition, fees, and institutional fundraising on a 192-acre campus on Birmingham's west side.

BSC operated as an independent institution governed by a Board of Trustees and was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). It had no proprietary technology platform; its product was degree-granting liberal arts education, supplemented by ancillary programs such as a National Academies-funded environmental justice and climate change curriculum for Mobile schools and historical archival services that have since been transferred to the Birmingham Public Library's Department of Archives and Manuscripts.

The college's financial trajectory turned negative after the 2009 market crash, which erased approximately $25 million in endowment value, and was compounded by a 2010 discovery of a $5 million-per-year federal student aid budgeting error against a roughly $49 million operating budget. Despite the hiring of President Daniel B. Coleman in December 2018 to lead a financial turnaround, state-level loan support via SB278 was not funded after the State Treasurer denied the application in October 2023. The Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the institution, operations ceased on May 31, 2024, and the campus was selected for acquisition by the U.S. Coast Guard for conversion to a training center.

Name

Birmingham Southern College

Legal name

Birmingham-Southern College

Website

https://bsc.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1856

Operating status

Closed

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Birmingham-Southern College was a private nonprofit liberal arts college in Birmingham, Alabama, serving undergraduate students with nationally ranked degree programs. The institution ceased operations on May 31, 2024 and its 192-acre campus is being acquired by the U.S. Coast Guard for use as a training center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Higher Education (Liberal Arts)

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Residential Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAH)

Keywords

• Liberal arts education
• Undergraduate degree programs
• Higher education services
• Environmental justice curriculum
• Academic archives services

Headquarters

HQ city

Birmingham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Birmingham-Southern College was a private nonprofit liberal arts college providing undergraduate education leading to bachelor's degrees across multiple academic disciplines. The college also developed specialized curricular offerings (e.g., an environmental justice and climate change curriculum for Mobile schools) and maintained historical archives now housed at the Birmingham Public Library. The institution ceased normal operations on May 31, 2024.

Product overview

Birmingham-Southern College was a private liberal arts college offering undergraduate education across multiple disciplines. The institution did not operate a traditional product or software platform; rather, it provided educational services including degree programs, curriculum development (such as environmental justice and climate change curriculum for Mobile schools), and archival services through partnerships with external institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor, core and flagship.

• Parchment Credentialing ServicesminorOthers · 29 May 2024Following closure, BSC entered into an agreement with Parchment Credentialing Services for transcript handling. Students whose last date of attendance or graduation year was after 1983 should request transcripts from Parchment. Contact: Ben Pagen, Associate Regional Sales Manager, or Matthew Pittinsky, CEO.
• Alabama Community College SystemminorOthers · 29 May 2024The Alabama Community College System serves as the formal custodian of records for BSC. ACCS can access records prior to 1984 and will be able to search for records for which the requester has incomplete or incorrect information. Students who graduated from BSC prior to 1984 should request transcripts from ACCS.
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2022Birmingham-Southern College received a $1.25 million grant from the National Academies to develop an environmental justice and climate change curriculum for Mobile schools. The initiative involves community partnerships and targets middle and high school students with an emphasis on local environmental issues and service learning.
• U.S. Coast GuardflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe United States Coast Guard selected the Birmingham-Southern College campus as the location for a new training center. Upon closing of the sale, the Coast Guard will take possession of the 192-acre campus on Birmingham's west side and will begin work to refit it as a training center for USCG officers and enlisted personnel. This represents a significant acquisition following the college's closure.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights2 records

Direct peers

• Furman University: Private, residential liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina with comparable enrollment scale, Phi Beta Kappa chapter, and southern U.S. positioning — directly comparable to Birmingham-Southern on size, mission, and target student profile.
• Rhodes College: Memphis-based private liberal arts college with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and similar undergraduate-only residential model; directly comparable to BSC on academic reputation, scale, and southeastern liberal-arts positioning.
• Sewanee: The University of the South: Small private liberal arts college on a large domain-anchored campus; comparable to BSC on residential liberal-arts mission, religious heritage, and rural/small-city campus footprint.
• Centre College: Highly selective private liberal arts college in Danville, Kentucky with Phi Beta Kappa recognition; directly comparable to BSC on academic selectivity, undergraduate-only mission, and southern U.S. footprint.
• Wofford College: Private residential liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina affiliated with the United Methodist Church; directly comparable to BSC on Methodist heritage, southern location, small-college scale, and Phi Beta Kappa-level academic reputation.
• Hendrix College: Private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas affiliated with the United Methodist Church; comparable to BSC on denominational heritage, residential undergraduate focus, and small-college scale in a southern state.
• Rollins College: Private liberal arts college in Winter Park, Florida with comparable undergraduate residential mission and southeastern U.S. positioning; aligns with BSC on mission, scale, and target student demographic.
• Southwestern University: Private liberal arts college in Georgetown, Texas affiliated with the United Methodist Church; comparable to BSC on Methodist heritage, residential undergraduate mission, and small-college scale.

Regional players

• Samford University: Private Alabama-based university with Baptist roots and a stronger enrollment base that absorbed many displaced BSC students post-closure; comparable as a regional higher-education competitor and natural successor institution in the Birmingham/Alabama market.

Broad incumbents

• University of Alabama at Birmingham: Large public research university located in Birmingham that is the dominant higher-education institution in BSC's home city; comparable as a broad incumbent serving the same Birmingham student market that BSC historically served.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/43199567384
• Xx.com/FromTheHilltop
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/birmingham-southern-college

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Birmingham Southern College