Grand Valley State University’s annual Accountability Report was released at the Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, Nov. 7 in Allendale. The report compares GVSU’s enrollment, tuition costs and graduation rates, among other things, to other public universities in Michigan.

“It’s really our focus on two things, measuring ourselves against our strategic plan and also providing a transparent look we can share with others on this campus,” said GVSU President Thomas Haas.

According to the report, 97 percent of students agree “moderately to extremely” that they would recommend GVSU to other students, and 93 percent are satisfied with academic life on campus.

The report also states that in fall 2014, GVSU enrolled the largest number of freshmen, minority, out-of-state and international students in its history. Between fall 2013 and fall 2014, freshman jumped from 4,124 to 4,226; minorities grew from 3,710 to 3,914; out of staters increased from 1,260 to 1,384; and international students rose from 378 to 401.

Among public universities in Michigan, GVSU has had the largest change in enrollment over the past 15 years with 62.5 percent growth. Oakland University follows at 56.2 percent and Saginaw Valley State University grew by 50 percent.

“That’s a good measure of the relevant programs we have here at Grand Valley attracting really good students,” Haas said.

GVSU was ranked Best in Class Performance from Business Leaders for Michigan and from the State of Michigan. Some of the measures for this recognition are retention and graduation rates, increase in Pell-eligible students and high economic impact.

Other notes from the 2014-2015 Accountability Report:

• In fall 2014, GVSU had a record number of first-year students with 25,094.
• GVSU’s new entering students have the third highest median composite ACT score (24) of Michigan’s public universities, and 94 percent of entering students have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• The university has a 70 percent graduation rate, which is the third highest in the state among public universities. In addition, GVSU retains 82 percent of students from freshman to sophomore years, ranking fourth.
• Almost 90 percent of GVSU’s recent graduates are either employed or in graduate school, and 86.3 percent of them are employed in Michigan.
• The average net cost per student at GVSU is $6,755. Tuition for the 2014-2015 school year is $10,752 and the average gift aid is $3,997.
• GVSU had $258,047,366 in financial aid available for the 2013-2014 school year.
• GVSU had a $730 million economic impact in Kent, Ottawa and Muskegon counties in the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

“As you can see we’re on the right path and have great momentum going forward,” Haas said.

The full 2014-15 Accountability Report can be viewed online at
www.gvsu.edu/accountability.

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