Gov.-elect Tommy Tuberville used a nearly 30-minute keynote speech Friday night to tell Alabamians that a four-year college degree is not the only path to a good life, urging families to consider two-year colleges and trade schools instead. He delivered the remarks to more than 500 attendees packed into the Barber Motorsports Museum and Event Center in Leeds for the 2026 Albert Patterson Gala.
The event was hosted by 1819 News, which reported that Tuberville spent much of his address on education and economic development alongside broader commentary on dysfunction in Washington, D.C., and his plans to protect Alabamians' interests and culture. “We got to understand that a four-year degree isn't for everybody,” Tuberville told the crowd, according to the outlet's account of the speech.
Tuberville argued that the state needs to educate and retain talent rather than watch graduates leave for other cities. “We want to educate and retain talent right here in Alabama,” he said, adding that he wants Alabama students to land good jobs without having to move to Nashville, Atlanta, Dallas or Houston.
A Warning About $100,000 Degrees
The governor-elect took direct aim at what he described as degrees that don't pay off, saying parents may borrow or spend $100,000 only to see their graduates unable to land a job at Walmart. He said colleges should strip out what he called woke rot and prioritize degrees that actually improve students' quality of life, and he specifically criticized students pursuing gender studies or expensive sociology degrees as a poor use of that money.
Those remarks line up with proposals Tuberville laid out weeks earlier in a plan he called Back to Basics: The Golden Age Playbook, which he released on Oct. 22 as an outline of what he intended to do if elected governor on Nov. 3. According to AL.com, Tuberville described that playbook as a get back to basics approach centered on manufacturing jobs, affordability, education and infrastructure, and it included a proposal to merge at least a dozen state agencies into larger departments by the end of his first term, along with a pledge to widen Interstate 65 into a six-lane thoroughfare from North Alabama to Mobile.
Where the Trade-School Push Fits the Numbers
Tuberville's emphasis on two-year colleges and trade schools arrives as Alabama's skilled-trades workforce has been expanding. The state's skilled-trades workforce grew 11.3% between 2019 and 2025, the sixth-highest growth rate in the nation, reaching 366,240 workers and outpacing every other Southeast state, according to a separate AL.com report. That same report projected another 8.1% increase in Alabama's skilled workforce between 2024 and 2034, even as it noted training programs nationwide are producing just 55 workers for every 100 skilled-trades positions needed.
Completion remains a hurdle. Per Alabama Daily News, only about half of people who enroll in skilled-trades training programs actually finish them, a gap that could complicate the kind of workforce buildup Tuberville described onstage.
Safety, Civics and National Politics
Tuberville also told the gala crowd he intends to make Alabama the safest state in America, and said he would hold judges and prosecutors accountable if that goal isn't met. He cited recent shootings at the Magic City Classic in Birmingham as context for his crime plan, and said he wants to restart civics education in K-12 schools so students can compare socialism and communism with the Constitution. “We need to compare it to our Constitution. Our kids don't know that,” he said.
On national politics, Tuberville, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, questioned why a Republican-led Senate has been unable to end the filibuster and predicted what the gala's host described as an absolute nightmare of hearings, investigations and lawsuits in Washington following the midterm elections. He praised President Donald Trump's actions on border security, prescription drug prices, manufacturing jobs and the MAHA agenda, said the country has a leadership vacuum, and called for true conservative leaders to step up. He also said his administration would continue to support Israel, which he described as America's only true ally.
Honoring Patterson's Legacy
The gala is named for Albert Patterson, who was assassinated in 1954 after winning the Democratic primary for Alabama attorney general on a promise to clean up illegal gambling, prostitution, and the alcohol and drug trade in Phenix City. This year's Albert Patterson award was accepted on behalf of Will Roberts's family by his father, while the Bill Brown Award went to 1819 Board chairman Stan McDonald for decades of service to the state.
Tuberville closed his remarks by telling attendees he plans to speak frequently over the next couple of years and work to improve life in Alabama as he prepares to take office.
