The Alabama House passed HB152 on Thursday, repealing the 1965 legislative mandate requiring the University of Alabama to maintain a standalone School of Social Work. Under current law, UA is the only institution in Alabama required by statute to maintain a separately structured school of social work. The School of Social Work currently has 647 total students — 329 undergraduates and 318 graduate students — among the lowest enrollment of any school at UA. “All this bill does is repeal the mandate,” Garrett said, affirming the legislation would not dismantle the program, but rather, give UA flexibility to improve it. Because the school was created by legislative mandate, UA cannot restructure or reorganize the program without legislative action to remove that requirement.