Georgia Southern Enrollment, Retention Reach Record Numbers

Official fall enrollment at Georgia Southern University rose by approximately 3.45% over 2019, thanks to a record-breaking class of first-year students. Also contributing is a post-consolidation record-high 79% retention rate from freshman to sophomore year.

Newly released figures from the University System of Georgia show Georgia Southern’s official fall enrollment for 2020 was 26,949, an increase from the previous year’s official total of 26,054. The data show the increase is attributable to a freshman class of 5,247 students, which is a 42% increase over the 2019 freshman class of 3,675 and the largest freshman class ever recorded at Georgia Southern, buoyed by the largest freshman class recorded at the Armstrong campus in Savannah since at least 2012.

Other record highs were recorded when evaluating how many students returned for their sophomore year after their freshman year. That rate of 79% last year was up from 78% the year before. Additionally, the university’s six-year graduation rate rose to 53.6%, a record high rate going as far back as 2010.

“These important measurements, and the growth in our freshman class is nothing short of remarkable,” said Georgia Southern President Kyle Marrero. “We are very pleased with the final figures for fall 2020. This not only shows the result of the work we are doing to attract new students, but it also affirms the expanding reputation of the university, and the ability of our faculty and staff to prepare students for the next chapter in their lives.”

Georgia Southern’s next highest record freshman class enrollment was 3,900 in fall of 2018.