Georgia College and State University 2024

Georgia College & State University (GCSU) is Georgia’s designated public liberal arts institution. As a residential institution, home to a largely traditional college student body, GCSU aims to offer students highly experiential and high-impact learning experiences. GCSU continues to be committed to its student success/Momentum Year plan, GC Journeys, and was fortunate to experience a 13.26% increase in students participating in these experiences between FY23 and FY24.

The institution experienced a steady First-time student enrollment during the last two fall semesters with each cohort reaching approximately 1,800 students. Although being designated as “test required”, we still experienced an increase in undergraduate applications.

As a top priority, the Retention Advisory Board, made up of a broad membership across campus, has led retention and student success strategies and initiatives. In the Spring of 2025, GCSU will be participating in the National Institute for Student Success Program to help identify areas of opportunity.

Below is the GC Journeys participation data noted in our Momentum Plan.

GC Journeys Participation Data

The participation counts are unduplicated as some students participate multiple times during the fiscal year.

Enrollment Trends:

Student Body Profile (Fall 2024): 

• Undergraduate: 6,006
• Graduate:  1,091
• Total enrollment: 7,097

Student Body Demographics:

Other:

Institutional Priorities:

Georgia College & State University’s institutional priorities have been driven largely by our mission as the state’s designated liberal arts university. As such, Georgia College & State University’s priorities have been focused largely on undergraduate education, offering a residential and high-impact educational experience, with a focus on experiential learning and high-impact practices, which has been the focus of our Momentum Year Strategy. GCSU won the 2023 AASCU Award for Excellence & Innovation Award for Student Success and College Completion for this work. Additionally, with the upcoming demographic shift, Georgia College & State University is also working to expand graduate programming and reach new student populations.

GCSU just launched our new strategic plan, Imagine 2030, which outlines our commitment to advancing these experiences, while recognizing a need to focus on wellness, and advancement, etc. Part of this strategic vision involved studying and visiting four of our aspirational peers: Elon University, College of Charleston, Miami University of Ohio, and the College of New Jersey. Divisions were tasked to develop plans to align to the pillars of our Strategic Plan by Spring 2024. The Strategic Planning committee has developed a robust assessment plan and is currently reviewing Year 1 reports.

Additionally, through working closely with Georgia College’s Office of Institutional Research, Retention Advisory Board, Graduate Education Taskforce, Academic Innovation Taskforce, as well as other special task forces with datasets, the Strategic Plan has benchmarked GCSU against our peer institutions, as well as our aspirational peers, while planning for the future (demographic shifts, in demand programs, etc). The active benchmarks that we regularly monitor and publish in our factbook include: cost of attendance, four- and six-year graduation rates, and academic year salaries of faculty by rank.

Below is a list of GCSU aspirational, comparator, and COPLAC Peers:

Aspirational Peers:

• Bradley University
• Christopher Newport University
• Elon University
• Emerson University
• James Madison University
• SUNY College of Geneseo
• The College of New Jersey
• Truman State University
• College of Charleston
• Miami University of Ohio

Comparator Peers:

• Ramapo College of New Jersey
• University of Mary Washington
• Winthrop University
• Eastern Connecticut State University
• Longwood University
• University of Montevallo
• SUNY College at Geneseo
• Radford University
• Murray State University
• Morehead State University
• Truman State University
• University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
• University of North Carolina at Asheville
• University Wisconsin- Stevens Point
• University of Wisconsin- La Crosse

COPLAC Peers (Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges)

• Ramapo College of New Jersey
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland
• Keene State College
• University of Mary Washington
• Eastern Connecticut State University
• Georgia College and State University
• University of Montevallo
• Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
• Northern Vermont University
• SUNY College at Geneseo
• Sonoma State University
• Henderson State University
• The University of Virginia’s College at Wise
• Fort Lewis College
• University of Illinois Springfield
• Mansfield University of Pennsylvania
• The Evergreen State College
• University of Minnesota-Morris
• University of Maine at Farmington
• University of South Carolina Aiken
• Shepherd University
• Midwestern State University
• Truman State University
• New College of Florida
• University of North Carolina at Asheville
• University of Wisconsin-Superior
• University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
• Kentucky State University