Alabama's education system features notable successes in early childhood education and higher learning, alongside ongoing efforts to improve secondary education metrics.
* **Early Childhood**: Alabama’s First Class Pre-K program has consistently been ranked #1 in the United States for quality by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) for nearly two decades. * **Graduation Rates**: The state's public high school graduation rate hovers around 92%, showing significant improvement over the past decade. * **Higher Education**: Alabama is home to world-class research universities, including the University of Alabama, Auburn University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), which is a national leader in medical research and healthcare. * **HBCUs**: Alabama is home to 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)—more than any other state—including Tuskegee University, Alabama A&M University, and Alabama State University. * **Literacy**: Literacy programs are a major legislative focus, with recent initiatives like the Alabama Literacy Act aiming to ensure all students read at grade level by the end of third grade.