Birmingham-Southern College Campus Up for Purchase: Reports

Alabama A&M University is reportedly planning to make an offer to purchase the shuttering Birmingham-Southern College campus, which would become Alabama A&M University at Birmingham.

Keith D. ThompsonShannon Reeves, vice president of governmental affairs and external relations at Alabama A&M, said the Huntsville-based historically Black university is conducting due diligence to prepare to extend an offer for the defunct private, liberal arts college, expected to close May 31.

The Birmingham-Southern Board of Trustees voted unanimously to close the college after a 2024 bill designed to amend the 2023 legislation that established the loan program (the Distressed Institutions of Higher Learning Revolving Loan Fund) on which the college’s future depended failed to win sufficient support in the Alabama House of Representatives.

“Without that funding, the college does not have the resources to continue,” said Keith D. Thompson, chair of Birmingham Southern’s Board of Trustees.

Virginia Loftin, vice president for advancement and communications for Birmingham-Southern, released a statement to news outlets in response to a request for comment regarding Alabama A&M’s plans.

“Birmingham-Southern College is having conversations with several interested parties about the sale of the campus,” said Loftin.