Hey all. Not sure where this post would belong, but this seems like the right place.
My wife and I graduated from THE University of Alabama in the very late 90's. I loved my time there, as did she. It's where we met, and still have fond memories of parties at the Centre Court apartments there behind the strip, where she lived for 2 years. On to my point...
The place is a lot different now. 20 years has seen a lot of improvements to the whole campus, and that part of Tuscaloosa extending to downtown. Good stuff. But some of it, I leave wondering how a "broke" college student is supposed to enjoy. Which bring me to a thought: knowing that more than half the incoming freshman class every year is from out of state, and tuition rates are what they are, what is the long game for business in Tuscaloosa, and the University of Alabama's attendance? By "long game", no doubt that much of the growth since 2010 or so has come due in large part to the success of the football team. Hallelujah for that, after sitting through the DuBose years. But the growth, especially following the terrible 2011 tornadoes, seems to focus on people spending more money than I ever had while a student there. Going out to eat was a 1x per week affair. And, at best, it was gonna be Chili's or Applebee's, or something crappy like that. None of this boutique restaurant business. Likewise, shopping has grown in Tuscaloosa en masse. Specialty stores, high end retailers that focus on profit margin rather than volume are everywhere.
The place seems so different. Today's student is walking around with a phone connecting their eyes to their hands, with a considerable contract cost to each of them. This life isn't free, for sure. My recent trip to Santa Barbara, CA confirmed any doubts I had that things cost more now. But Santa Barbara is a resort city, a vacation place, with rich people living in it, that just so happens to also have a college in it. Tuscaloosa IS the University of Alabama, for the most part. Sure, there's other folks besides students, but the ratio of full time residents to students has actually gotten larger since I was there (attendance in 1996 was about 20k undergrad, compared to under 100k residents). Undergrad attendance is close to double that now. How are these people affording this place, anymore? Rents are MUCH higher, with more "luxury" living? Was this the ultimate goal of President Witt, when he launched large initiatives to grow the school?
Lastly, and thanks for staying along so far, I ask this question as an alum, who now has one of college age, and wishes she would choose U of A. She is not choosing U of A, for many of the reasons I listed above.
My wife and I graduated from THE University of Alabama in the very late 90's. I loved my time there, as did she. It's where we met, and still have fond memories of parties at the Centre Court apartments there behind the strip, where she lived for 2 years. On to my point...
The place is a lot different now. 20 years has seen a lot of improvements to the whole campus, and that part of Tuscaloosa extending to downtown. Good stuff. But some of it, I leave wondering how a "broke" college student is supposed to enjoy. Which bring me to a thought: knowing that more than half the incoming freshman class every year is from out of state, and tuition rates are what they are, what is the long game for business in Tuscaloosa, and the University of Alabama's attendance? By "long game", no doubt that much of the growth since 2010 or so has come due in large part to the success of the football team. Hallelujah for that, after sitting through the DuBose years. But the growth, especially following the terrible 2011 tornadoes, seems to focus on people spending more money than I ever had while a student there. Going out to eat was a 1x per week affair. And, at best, it was gonna be Chili's or Applebee's, or something crappy like that. None of this boutique restaurant business. Likewise, shopping has grown in Tuscaloosa en masse. Specialty stores, high end retailers that focus on profit margin rather than volume are everywhere.
The place seems so different. Today's student is walking around with a phone connecting their eyes to their hands, with a considerable contract cost to each of them. This life isn't free, for sure. My recent trip to Santa Barbara, CA confirmed any doubts I had that things cost more now. But Santa Barbara is a resort city, a vacation place, with rich people living in it, that just so happens to also have a college in it. Tuscaloosa IS the University of Alabama, for the most part. Sure, there's other folks besides students, but the ratio of full time residents to students has actually gotten larger since I was there (attendance in 1996 was about 20k undergrad, compared to under 100k residents). Undergrad attendance is close to double that now. How are these people affording this place, anymore? Rents are MUCH higher, with more "luxury" living? Was this the ultimate goal of President Witt, when he launched large initiatives to grow the school?
Lastly, and thanks for staying along so far, I ask this question as an alum, who now has one of college age, and wishes she would choose U of A. She is not choosing U of A, for many of the reasons I listed above.