This college boasts itself as a great Christian college. In the three years that my family and I were down at Southern, only 3 people in the administration building at Wright Hall prayed with me, or my wife. This is NOT A FAMILY FRIENDLY COLLEGE. Non-Traditional students beware, this college WILL NOT work with you, in every way you could imagine. Spouses are not granted the same rights as students; They have to pay for use of Hulsey Wellness Center, the school library, and they are not allowed to hold any jobs on campus which are reserved for students who do not fill them. While the college will admit almost anyone in, it is more of a business decision than a "bring them closer to God" decision. The first semester, Student Finance will gladly work with you. Afterwards, and for the remainder of your time at SAU, they will hound you for money, with threats up to and including withdrawing you from classes, which will, in turn, remove you from housing, regardless of whether or not you have a family OR anywhere else to go. A favorite tactic used is offering a super easy personal loans which turn out to be an astoundingly horrendous decision. $7,000 loans charge incredible interest from the moment you receive it, can be called at any point whether you are in school or not, and go through companies such as Sallie Mae, which are notorious for their inability to grasp the concept that people cannot pay their entire paychecks into 3 or 4 different loans every month and consolidation is a taboo word. If you do happen to be suckered in to this ploy, SAU will also sign you up each semester without notifying you of doing so; you must tell them in person that you do not want to sign up for subsequent semesters.
SAU also offers no financial help to students with families without you going in and fighting tooth and nail for grants and other financial gifts. During my time there, all of my friends with families with the exception of one (husband hated needles and wife was pregnant) had to work two or three jobs, and had to sell plasma in order to pay their tuition.
Overall, I would give a 0 stars to SAU, but that is not allowed. So 1 star will have to do. Non-trads with families beware, your time will be some of the most difficult times of your life. read more