Georgia Southern University Sets Record With Spring 2009 Enrollment

February 17, 2009

Georgia Southern University announced that its Spring Semester enrollment reached 16,664 an increase of 804 students, or more than five percent, from a year ago.

‘Georgia Southern is continuing to attract outstanding students at record levels,” said Bruce Grube, president of Georgia Southern University. ‘We had a record enrollment this past fall and graduated a large class this past December, but yet we are continuing to grow.”

Grube attributes the increased enrollment to the growing interest from students not only in the state of Georgia, but the Southeast and across the nation. Graduate enrollment as well as enrollment in the University’s popular online degree programs also contributed to the record Spring numbers.

Georgia Southern University began the fall semester with an enrollment of 17,764, an all-time record for the institution. Even more important than the numbers is how the University is growing. This year’s incoming freshman class had a record average SAT score of 1,111 and an average grade point average of 3.1. Additionally, the University recently celebrated a new record rate of retention, the number of students who come to the University and stay the entire four years.

Georgia Southern University was recognized this year as one of America’s Best Colleges by U.S. News & World Report, one of America’s Best Values by Kiplinger and one of America’s Best Colleges by Forbes. As the University has grown, so has its impact on the regional economy. From 2007-2008 Georgia Southern’s economic impact on the region was more than $748 million.

‘We often say that we’re Georgia’s large-scale, small-feel research University,” Grube said. ‘Students and their parents are seeing that we offer all of the benefits of a major institution with the personal touch of a much smaller private college. They appreciate not being just a number and as a result, are choosing Georgia Southern at a record level.”

Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University, offers 116 degree programs serving nearly 18,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. The University, one of Georgia’s largest, is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars and is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit www.georgiasouthern.edu.