ATLANTA – Student enrollment at Georgia’s public colleges and universities reached 345,823 this semester, an all-time record for the spring, the University System of Georgia’s vice chancellor of research and policy analysis reported Wednesday.
The spring enrollment numbers at the system’s 26 institutions increased for the second year in a row after declining in 2022 and 2023 as the system emerged from the pandemic, Angela Bell told members of the system’s Board of Regents meeting on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro.
“We outpaced the nation again in growth,” system Chancellor Sonny Perdue added.
The largest enrollment growth this spring occurred among undergraduates, whose ranks increased by 14.1% over last spring. The number of students enrolled in master’s degree programs grew by 12.6%.
Enrollment at the system’s four research universities – including the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech – rose by 6.5% compared to last spring, while enrollment at the system’s comprehensive universities – including Georgia Southern and Kennesaw State University – was up by 6.1%.
As university system campuses have become more diverse, white enrollment as a percentage of the student population has declined from 47% to 42% during the last five years, Bell said.
Hispanic enrollment has increased from 10% of the student population to 12% during that same period, while enrollment among Asian American students is up from 11% to 14%.
Perdue said he’s concerned by the rapid growth in the number of students taking classes online. The number of online courses being offered shot up during the pandemic, and the trend of more students taking a full course load online or a mix of online and in-person instruction has continued.
“I’m not sure if it’s driven by teacher demand or student demand,” Perdue said. “If it continues, we won’t need new buildings in the university system.”
Perdue said the growing popularity of dual enrollment students – high school students taking college courses – has stirred discussion among Georgia lawmakers of establishing three-year degree programs in the university system.
In other business Wednesday, the regents voted to name Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy after Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. The late former president from Plains, who died last December at the age of 100, attended Georgia Tech in 1942.