Toting handmade signs, sporting their school colors and chanting for more higher education funding, 21 UNA students joined a crowd of more than 2,000 individuals across the state April 7 at the Statehouse in Montgomery.

UNA rallied for lower tuition rates and increased funding at the 13th annual Higher Education Day alongside students from 12 other four-year public universities. United by a common purpose, students urged Alabama lawmakers to pass a new budget that would give at least 33 percent of funding to higher education.

Jordan Brasher, legislative affairs chair with SGA Senate, said Higher Education Day is a time set aside to not only remind Alabama leaders about the importance of education funding, but it also serves as a venue to give students a voice about issues that affect them.

“It’s definitely an important opportunity for people to take,” she said. “Not only do students get to see first-hand how government works, but they also get to see what kind of crisis we are in with the education partnership and our current legislators who want to cut the budget.”

Gov. Robert Bentley, who said higher education has played a vital role in his life, as he went on to earn a medical degree in 1968 before entering politics, said one of his top priorities as the new Alabama governor is to create jobs and bring more highly-skilled employees into the workforce.

“I have more higher education than any governor has had in the state of Alabama,” Bentley said. “I know what it meant to me and my life and where I am because of my education. As we develop the new budget, we wanted to make sure higher ed was adequately funded, and, for the first time, we’ve been able to see an increase in next year’s budget in higher education in comparison to last year.”

Around 72 percent of students who entered college last year in Alabama paid for school using student loans, according to Gordon Stone, executive director of the Higher Education Partnership. He also said 22 percent of people in Alabama over age 25 have college degrees, which is just under the national average of 27 percent.

UNA freshman Mack Cornwell, who attended the rally for the first time, said he has mixed feelings about whether or not Higher Education Day is successful in bringing about change in Alabama’s education system.

“I feel like it’s always good to bring awareness to and to work together toward a problem,” he said. “Us getting together in that situation was exciting. I appreciated [the representatives] talking to us, but I do not think any change will come out of it.”

After the rally, UNA students got the opportunity to meet and talk with local representatives Greg Burdine, Johnny Mack Morrow and Lynn Greer at the Statehouse.

Burdine, a Democrat who represents the first district of Lauderdale County, is a 1982 UNA alumnus and former attorney in Florence. He wants to bring more high-tech jobs to the Shoals area and offer UNA and Northwest Shoals Community College graduates more local places to find work.

“I will continue to lead and work hard on education because it is very critical for our economic development,” he said. “We don’t have as many opportunities for jobs now as we should. I want to bring new industries to keep people living and working in the Florence area.”

Tourism is the number one industry in the state of Alabama and brings in around $9.3 billion every year, according to Morrow, who represents the 18th district of Colbert County. He believes focusing on the Shoals’ strengths, such as its deep musical heritage and Singing River, would enliven the communities and bring more funding to the area.

He said young graduates should remain hopeful but realistic about finding work after college.

“You may not land the job you always dreamed of right away, but get your foot in the door,” he said. “Go to work for the industry you want to be affiliated with, even if you enter at a lower level. If that industry flourishes, so will you.”