When pursuing a grad degree in today's world, there are many different options to choose from. College Factual has developed its Best Doctor's Degree Colleges in Alabama ranking as one thing you can use to help make this decision.
After analyzing 12 grad schools in Alabama, we came up with our list of those that offered the best doctorate degree programs. Instead of depending on subjective information to rank the best grad schools, we focus on objective factors in our analysis. More specifically, the following explains what we consider and why.
Better Early-Career Average Salaries
The average early-career salary of those graduating with a doctorate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. While doctorate degree recipients from schools in Alabama earn an average starting salary of $81,366, those from the top 8 school on this list made an average of $83,866.
Starting Salary ( 76798 to 89764 )
Student Loan Borrowing
In addition to average starting salaries, we also consider the average amount of student loans that graduate students take on while pursuing their doctorate degree.
The average debt load at a particular school may not be bad, but it's an important thing to consider in conjunction with post-graduation earnings.
Additional Ranking Factors We Use
Our Best Doctorate Degree Schools considers other factors in addition to average post-graduation earnings and average student debt.
These factors include things like the educational resources, the demand associated with the school, whether or not the school offers online classes, and the student body caliber - just to name a few.
You may also want to narrow this list by location to find the best doctorate degree schools nearest you. In addition, we've put together a number of other college rankings that may help you in your search.
Our 2024 rankings named Samford University the best grad school in Alabama in terms of overall quality for students working on their doctorate degree. Samford is a medium-sized private not-for-profit school situated in Birmingham, Alabama. It awarded 471 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Samford make an average of $80,466 a year.
You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend Auburn University. The school came in at #2 in Alabama on this year’s best doctorate degree schools ranking. Auburn is a public institution located in Auburn, Alabama. The school has a large population, and it awarded 532 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Auburn make an average of $86,690 per year during the early years of their career.
You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of Alabama at Birmingham. It ranked #3 on our 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama list. UAB is a public institution located in Birmingham, Alabama. The school has a large population, and it awarded 609 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UAB make an average of $87,079 per year during the early years of their career.
Out of the 12 doctorate degree schools in Alabama that were part of this year’s ranking, The University of Alabama landed the #4 spot on the list. UA is a large public school situated in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It awarded 364 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UA make an average of $81,210 per year during the early years of their career.
A rank of #5 on our Best Doctorate Degrees in Alabama list means Columbia Southern University is a great place for students working on their degree. Orange Beach, Alabama is the setting for this fairly large institution of higher learning. The private for-profit school handed out doctorate degrees to 42 students in 2020-2021.
University of South Alabama landed the #6 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. Located in Mobile, Alabama, the fairly large public school handed out 291 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from USA make an average of $76,202 per year during the early years of their career.
University of Alabama in Huntsville landed the #7 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. UAH is a public institution located in Huntsville, Alabama. The school has a medium-sized population, and it awarded 77 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from UAH make an average of $96,376 per year during the early years of their career.
With a ranking of #8, Jacksonville State University did quite well on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama list. This medium-sized public school is located in Jacksonville, Alabama, and it awarded 13 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
University of West Alabama landed the #9 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. Located in Livingston, Alabama, the medium-sized public school awarded 17 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
Troy University landed the #10 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. TROY is a public institution located in Troy, Alabama. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 32 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
Alabama State University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. Alabama State University is a small public school located in Montgomery, Alabama that handed out 38 doctorate degrees in 2020-2021.
During the early years of their career, doctorate degree graduates from Alabama State make an average of $77,554 a year.
Tuskegee University landed the #12 spot on the 2024 Best Doctorate Degree Schools in Alabama ranking. Located in Tuskegee, Alabama, the small private not-for-profit school awarded 65 diplomas to qualifed doctorate degree students in 2020-2021.
Graduates with a doctorate degree from Tuskegee make an average of $85,353 per year during the early years of their career.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.