About 15 minutes outside of Auburn, in Opelika, Southern Union State Community College is located.
I know many students that are going to Southern Union. A girl, I had in one of my classes at Auburn University last semester, decided to take courses at Southern Union during the summer to get her GPA up. Many students choose to go to Southern Union so that they can get their basic courses out of the way, and then transfer to Auburn. The courses at Southern Union, according to the people I have talked to that go there, are much easier than the ones offered at Auburn University.
Back in the year 2000, my sister decided to come and live in Auburn. Instead of going straight into Auburn University, she decided to attend Southern Union. The classes she took there did seem to be a lot easier for her.
Another person I know decided to go to Southern Union because he got kicked out of Auburn for not keeping up his GPA. Even though he got kicked out of Auburn for a semester, it was a good thing that Southern Union was there so that he could get his GPA up and still take the basic classes he needed.
Also a lot of students from Auburn University transfer to Southern Union to save money. Classes at Southern Union are a lot cheaper than they are at Auburn.
Even though Southern Union is known at Auburn University as the place to go if you can’t stay at Auburn for GPA reasons or not being able to get into Auburn period, I really think this small community college is not given enough credit. Southern Union has many student activities that they are involved with. Their athletics include baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, cross-county, softball and volleyball.
Southern Union also has several student organizations including gospel choir, music club, bowling team and more. Southern Union is also involved in the Adult Education Program, which is available to any adult free of charge. This program “provides individualized adult-oriented instruction to help the learner achieve his or her goals. AE classes provide instruction in basic literacy, all primary and secondary academic skills, preparation for GED test, and English as a second language.” Southern Union not only helps in preparing students for the role they will take in the world but they are also working well with the community.
In looking up classes on the Southern Union website, I was surprised at how many academic divisions they offer to students. There is a fine arts division, language arts division, mathematics division, science, health science and social science division, and a technical division.
There are so many people I know that look down on those students that transfer to Southern Union, they see them as failures as Auburn University. Honestly, I was kind of thinking the same thing before I looked into Southern Union and before I talked to someone who actually went there. Just because someone chooses to go to an “easier and cheaper” school, does not mean they should be looked down on.


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