Middle Georgia State University (MGA) is a five-campus institution providing selective undergraduate and graduate education throughout the middle Georgia region. MGA serves a diverse student body through traditional, online, and hybrid delivery of curriculum. It is the mission of MGA to educate and graduate inspired lifelong learners whose scholarship and careers enhance the region through professional leadership, innovative partnerships, and community engagement. The institution’s vision is to transform individuals and their communities through extraordinary higher learning. Four core values underscore this vision: stewardship, engagement, adaptability, and learning.
Middle Georgia State University offered twenty-five programs at the baccalaureate level, eight at the master’s level, and one at the doctoral level in the 2022-23 academic year. The University awarded a total of 1,463 degrees including 986 baccalaureate degrees in FY 2023.
Census data define the Fall 2022 student body to be Georgia residents (90.2%), White Non-Hispanic (53.5%) and Black/African American Non-Hispanic (30.7%), and under 25 years of age (69.6%). 58.5% of the student body was enrolled full-time. Females comprised 55.7% and males 44.3% of the student body.
In Fall 2022, 90.2% of enrolled students were Georgia residents representing 155 counties with most of the in-state students coming from Houston, Bibb, Laurens, Peach, Dodge, Henry, Bleckley, Fulton, Gwinnett, Monroe, DeKalb, Jones, and Cobb. 34 out-of-state counties were also represented in the fall 2022 enrolled student body. There were 593 students that came from out-of-state primarily from Texas, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama. International students represented 2.1% of the total fall 2022 enrollment.
The number of Pell recipients in fall 2022 was 2,904 (37.8% of Undergraduates) of total enrollment. The fall 2022 enrollment was also comprised of 1,320 (17.24%) first-generation college students and 2,339 (30.45%) adult learners. In fall 2022, there were 230 military students that comprised 3.0% of the total enrollment. The ethnic minority student population in fall 2022 was 3,290 (42.96%).
MGA has a blended mission in that it serves both the academically gifted students in dual enrollment, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs, while also serving as a point of access to higher education for underrepresented populations. Championing student success is the 2023-2028 strategic imperative for MGA which is dependent on data-driven decision-making, better service to students, executing standards of excellence in all academic programs, more efficient use of faculty and staff resources, growing student engagement at all degree levels, and utilization of tools to measure and communicate performance. Keeping students on track to program completion is the CCG goal most closely aligned with MGA’s strategic priorities. Outcomes for this goal include improved persistence and retention rates and an increase in the number of students completing their degrees on time. To fulfill its vision of “transformation of individuals and their communities through extraordinary higher learning,” MGA has identified several high-impact strategies to enhance retention and graduation.
Benchmark: Columbus State University
Competitor institution: Valdosta State University
Aspirational: Kennesaw State University