Grand Valley State University Overview

Located in Allendale, Michigan, Grand Valley State University is a public institution. GVSU is located in a safe and convenient suburb.

What Is Grand Valley State University Known For?

• Students at GVSU have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 4%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
• The highest award offered at GVSU is the doctor's degree.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 66% of the faculty were full-time.
• After graduation, GVSU bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $42,800 a year. That's about 5% more than their peers at other schools.

Grand Valley State University Rankings

GVSU is ranked #459 out of 2,587 schools in the nation for overall quality on our 2022 Best Colleges list. Out of the 67 colleges in Michigan, it is ranked at #9.

Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at GVSU.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#1	Best Value Mathematics & Computer Science Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#5	Best Value Neurobiology & Neurosciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Value Ethnic, Culture & Gender Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Value Philosophy & Religious Studies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#35	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#42	Best Value English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#63	Best English Language & Literature Master’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#89	Best Music Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#92	Best General English Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#100	Best Law Enforcement & Firefighting Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards GVSU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#1	Best Computer Teacher Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	College Factual
#5	Best Quality Control Technology Schools	College Factual
#63	Best Criminal Justice & Corrections Schools	College Factual
#65	Best Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting Schools	College Factual
#169	Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools	College Factual
#286	Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools	College Factual

Where Is Grand Valley State University?

Contact details for GVSU are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	1 Campus Dr, Allendale, MI 49401-9403
Phone:	616-331-2020
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/grandvalley
Twitter:	http://www.twitter.com/gvsu

How Do I Get Into GVSU?

You can apply to GVSU online at: https://www.gvsu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-application-23.htm

Admission Requirements for GVSU

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	neither required nor recommended
SAT or ACT Scores	recommended
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into GVSU?

Since GVSU has an acceptance rate of 88%, it is not too hard to gain acceptance into the school. Still, you need to be sure you complete your application in full and send in any other requested documents.

Approximately 35% of accepted students are men and 65% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 86%, and the acceptance rate for women is 89%.

Can I Afford Grand Valley State University?

The overall average net price of GVSU is $25,813. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At GVSU, approximately 57% of students took out student loans averaging $6,701 a year. That adds up to $26,804 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at GVSU is 3.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Grand Valley State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 20,405 undergraduate students at GVSU, with 18,013 being full-time and 2,392 being part-time.

There are also 2,945 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 18,013 full-time undergraduates at GVSU, 39% are male and 61% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Grand Valley State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	423
Black or African American	713
Hispanic or Latino	1,036
White	14,869
International Students	161
Other Races/Ethnicities	811

Geographic Diversity

Michigan students aren't the only ones who study at Grand Valley State University. At this time, 25 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 86 countries are represented at GVSU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and Saudi Arabia.

Online Learning at Grand Valley State University

In 2019-2020, 21,395 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at GVSU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 53rd most popular in Michigan for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of GVSU

The following table shows how GVSU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	#28	#13

Online Growth Rankings of GVSU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Grand Valley State University was 260.7%. This is the #235 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at GVSU regardless of major.

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at GVSU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at GVSU.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Instructional Media Design	#10
Education	#64

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Grand Valley State University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
General Biology	327	0	20	0	347
Marketing	314	0	0	0	314
Other Health Professions	276	0	0	0	276
Health & Physical Education	272	0	0	0	272
Finance & Financial Management	271	0	0	0	271
General Education	221	0	34	0	255
General Psychology	233	0	0	0	233
Social Work	90	0	143	0	233
Nursing	198	2	2	26	228
Accounting	142	0	43	0	185
Criminal Justice & Corrections	165	0	5	0	170
Management Sciences & Quantitative Methods	156	0	0	0	156
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	40	0	55	59	154
Public Relations & Advertising	152	0	0	0	152
Computer Information Systems	111	0	29	0	140
General English Literature	118	0	10	0	128
Allied Health Professions	65	0	61	0	126
Communication & Media Studies	105	0	20	0	125
Hospitality Management	106	0	0	0	106
Business Administration & Management	103	0	0	0	103
Educational Administration	0	10	90	0	100
Public Administration	63	2	33	0	98
General Business/Commerce	26	0	68	0	94
Teacher Education Subject Specific	92	0	0	0	92
Human Resource Management	80	0	0	0	80
Special Education	55	0	25	0	80
Liberal Arts General Studies	80	0	0	0	80
Neurobiology & Neurosciences	71	0	0	0	71
Film, Video & Photographic Arts	67	0	0	0	67
Mathematics	66	0	0	0	66
Fine & Studio Arts	65	0	0	0	65
Health & Medical Administrative Services	40	0	24	0	64
Natural Resources Conservation	63	0	0	0	63
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	46	15	0	61
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	60	0	60
Information Science	56	0	0	0	56
Business/Managerial Economics	55	0	0	0	55
Political Science & Government	55	0	0	0	55
Mechanical Engineering	50	0	0	0	50
General Social Sciences	49	0	0	0	49
Communication Sciences	13	0	27	0	40
Public Health	0	0	38	0	38
Writing Studies	37	0	0	0	37
Electrical Engineering	36	0	0	0	36
History	36	0	0	0	36
Music	36	0	0	0	36
Statistics	35	0	0	0	35
International Relations & National Security	35	0	0	0	35
General Engineering	0	0	34	0	34
Manufacturing Engineering	33	0	0	0	33
Legal Support Services	33	0	0	0	33
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	30	0	0	0	30
Cell Biology & Anatomical Sciences	10	0	19	0	29
Romance Languages	29	0	0	0	29
Anthropology	29	0	0	0	29
Geological & Earth Sciences	28	0	0	0	28
International Business	27	0	0	0	27
Sociology	27	0	0	0	27
Biomathematics & Bioinformatics	0	0	26	0	26
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	0	0	23	0	23
Geography & Cartography	23	0	0	0	23
Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science	22	0	0	0	22
Chemistry	21	0	0	0	21
Communication & Journalism (Other)	20	0	0	0	20
Biological & Physical Science	20	0	0	0	20
Economics	20	0	0	0	20
Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology	19	0	0	0	19
Entrepreneurial Studies	18	0	0	0	18
Quality Control Technology	18	0	0	0	18
Computer Engineering	16	0	0	0	16
Ethnic Studies	16	0	0	0	16
Philosophy	16	0	0	0	16
Student Counseling	0	0	14	0	14
Dance	10	0	0	0	10
Classical Languages & Literature	7	0	0	0	7
Drama & Theater Arts	7	0	0	0	7
Instructional Media Design	0	0	6	0	6
Germanic Languages	6	0	0	0	6
Mathematics & Computer Science	0	0	6	0	6
Religious Studies	6	0	0	0	6
Taxation	0	0	5	0	5
International Studies	5	0	0	0	5
Physics	5	0	0	0	5
Linguistics & Comparative Literature	0	0	4	0	4
Genetics	0	1	0	0	1
Microbiological Sciences & Immunology	1	0	0	0	1
Area Studies	1	0	0	0	1
Biopsychology	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	5,249	61	939	85	6,334

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics
• Image Credit: By Demhem under License

More about our data sources and methodologies.