The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a comprehensive urban university with a nationally recognized academic health center. UAB is the only public, four-year degree granting university in the state’s largest metropolitan area, the largest research institution in the state of Alabama, and the largest employer in Alabama. UAB attracts the best and brightest students from Alabama, the nation, and more than 100 countries around the world. In 2020, the University had its fifth straight year of overall record enrollment, with 22,563 undergraduate, graduate, pre-professional, and post-doctoral students. Nearly 66 percent of the student body attends the University full-time, and more than 72 percent of the freshmen live on campus. UAB is among 51 public and private universities classified by the Carnegie Foundation for both “very high research activity” and “community engagement.” In 2020, despite a global pandemic, research funding set a new record at $638 million, the University ranked in the top 30 among all public universities in funding from the National Institutes of Health, and UAB was named “America’s No. 1 Best Large Employer” by Forbes.