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Undergraduate Admissions

Academic Common Market

Academic Common Market

The Academic Common Market (ACM) is a tuition award program that enables selected students to pursue out-of-state college degrees at discounted tuition rates through agreements among the states, colleges and universities. The ACM is designed for qualified first-time freshmen and first-time transfer students. The purpose of the Academic Common Market is for states to share specified academic degree programs located at Southern public colleges and universities. This is accomplished through an exchange of students across borders at in-state tuition rates. The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) coordinates the ACM, and through this program, students wishing to study in majors not available in their home states may be able to attend out-of-state universities that agree to pay the out-of-state portion of their tuition.

Note: The University of Alabama is not adding additional majors to the Academic Common Market (ACM) program.

ACM at The University of Alabama

One of UA’s undergraduate degree programs participate in the ACM. The ACM does not include any programs in the College of Commerce and Business Administration (C&BA) or the College of Human Environmental Sciences (HES). In the list of UA programs below you will see which degree programs are available for specific state residents. To be considered for an ACM award, undergraduate students must have earned at least a 27 ACT composite score OR the appropriate minimum SAT score: 1260 SAT total score (evidence-based reading & writing and math). Students must also have at least a 3.5 overall high school GPA. You must have been admitted to UA before you can apply for an ACM award.

ACM Undergraduate Programs

Metallurgical Engineering, B.S.Met

CIP Code: 14.2001
States: AR, LA, MS, TN

ACM Qualifications

A. General Qualifications of the SREB (Southern Regional Education Board)

  • Be a resident of one of the 16 SREB states
  • Select a program eligible for residents of your home state (students with dual majors are not eligible for the ACM program)
  • Complete the admission process at the institution offering the eligible Academic Common Market program.
  • Be certified as a resident of your home state by contacting the ACM coordinator for your state of residence. The SREB website has the contact information for each state’s ACM coordinator. Each ACM applicant must contact his or her state’s ACM coordinator and provide the information needed for that coordinator to certify state residency and send an official certification to UA’s ACM Coordinator.

B. UA Qualifications for First-time ACM Certification

The undergraduate ACM is for first-time freshmen. Students must have at least a 27 ACT composite score or the appropriate minimum SAT score: 1260 SAT composite score (evidence-based reading & writing and math) on tests taken AFTER March 1, 2016. Students must also have at least a 3.5 overall high school GPA. UA does not superscore (i.e., combine the best math and verbal from multiple test administrations) when considering admissions tests, and taking the optional writing section of the ACT does not have a positive or negative effect on the composite score. A student who attends UA not meeting ACM minimum criteria for GPA or admission test score cannot earn an ACM award by earning a 3.0 or better UA GPA or continuing to take an admission test to earn an ACM-acceptable minimum score.

C. UA Qualifications for Continuing ACM Certification

To continue an ACM grant after a student’s first semester receiving ACM support, each undergraduate UA ACM student must maintain at least a 3.0 overall GPA on all UA course work attempted. This GPA standard is in addition to the long-standing requirements for maintaining residency in the same state that certified the student initially and staying in the ACM major for which the student was certified by the home state and approved by UA.

Note: If a student receives a award that pays full tuition or the out-of-state portion of tuition, the student is not also eligible for an ACM award.

ACM Application Process at UA

Application Deadline: May 1

  • If you already have been admitted to UA and meet the above minimum test score and high school GPA requirements, submit the Application for ACM via your MyBama account for Out-of-State Tuition Award (If you have not been admitted to UA, please wait until you receive an official admission letter before applying for an ACM award).
  • We then evaluate your ACM application. If you meet UA’s ACM qualifications, we will inform your state’s ACM coordinator that you are eligible for an ACM award.
  • You need to contact your home-state ACM coordinator and provide whatever information the state requires to certify residency. Contact information for each State ACM Coordinator is on the SREB Home Page. (Click on “Academic Common Market” and then “Participating States.”)
  • Your state’s ACM coordinator certifies residency and asks UA to give you an out-of-state tuition award.
  • We do a final check and agree to provide a UA-paid award equal to the out-of-state portion of your tuition, if you meet all UA requirements.
  • We send you a letter welcoming you to the ACM and reminding you of the conditions for continuing to receive the award each semester.
  • ACM applicant must be admitted to the university, applied to the ACM program and have certificate from home state submitted to the ACM program director by May 1.

Notes:

  • Students with dual majors are not eligible for the ACM program.
  • All UA ACM students must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA to continue receiving the award from one semester to the next. The 3.0 GPA is computed only on UA work attempted and does not include transfer work. Course work completed at other universities is irrelevant to the UA GPA, even though the student’s department may accept the course itself to be used in the student’s plan of study.
  • Each semester, we check each student’s record to be sure that the student still is enrolled in the ACM program for which he or she is certified, and that the student continues to meet all UA requirements for ACM participation. This includes the 3.0 minimum GPA on all UA courses attempted.
  • ACM Students are limited to 8 semesters under the ACM program (major changes do not affect the number of total semesters eligible)