At the conclusion of the 2023-2024 academic year, Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama ceased its operations 168 years after its founding. Recently, representatives from Miles College, an Alabama-based HBCU, have signed a purchase agreement to acquire Birmingham-Southern’s 192-acre campus.
With the addition of Birmingham-Southern’s campus, Miles College plans to expand its academic programs, research opportunities, and innovation initiatives with both local and global partners. The purchase agreement only covers the physical acreage and buildings on the former Birmingham-Southern campus. The former college will still operate as a corporate entity until the college’s official closure is finalized.
Once the sale is complete, representatives from Birmingham-Southern will work with the Alabama Attorney General to develop a plan for the college’s remaining endowment. Leaders from both institutions expect the entire acquisition process to take many months, if not years, to complete.
“We are very pleased to take this next step with Miles College,” said Birmingham-Southern College President Daniel B. Coleman. “Our hope has been to find a buyer whose mission paralleled BSC’s mission of educating young people for lives of service and significance, and whose presence on the Hilltop would also benefit the surrounding communities who have been such good neighbors to BSC for more than 100 years. With its roots in the Methodist tradition of service and its commitment to preparing young people for lives of leadership, Miles College fits that description.”
