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Community colleges in Alabama

There are 6 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in Alabama reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $5,040 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in Alabama, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in Alabama

  1. Huntsville Bible CollegeHuntsville$4,730
  2. George C Wallace State Community College-SelmaSelma$4,740
  3. Coastal Alabama Community CollegeBay Minette$5,040
  4. Lawson State Community CollegeBirmingham$5,040
  5. Jefferson State Community CollegeBirmingham$5,100

Full Alabama cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in Alabama

  1. Jefferson State Community CollegeBirmingham5,470
  2. Coastal Alabama Community CollegeBay Minette4,798
  3. Lawson State Community CollegeBirmingham2,900
  4. George C Wallace State Community College-SelmaSelma855
  5. Marion Military InstituteMarion329

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Marion Military InstituteMarion53%
  2. Jefferson State Community CollegeBirmingham37%
  3. Coastal Alabama Community CollegeBay Minette25%
  4. George C Wallace State Community College-SelmaSelma14%
  5. Lawson State Community CollegeBirmingham7%

Alabama transfer guide →

All 6 community colleges in Alabama

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Coastal Alabama Community CollegeBay Minette4,798$5,040
George C Wallace State Community College-SelmaSelma855$4,740
Huntsville Bible CollegeHuntsville64$4,730
Jefferson State Community CollegeBirmingham5,470$5,100
Lawson State Community CollegeBirmingham2,900$5,040
Marion Military InstituteMarion329$9,538

About community college in Alabama

Alabama's 6 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any Alabama community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in Alabama routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. Alabama's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.