As you finish the semester this week here at VSU (please remember that Odum Library is open 24 hours May 3-May 6), consider these interesting facts and sources about higher education in the United States, the University System of Georgia, and on our own campus:
The National Center for Education Statistics collects information about national trends in higher education, including this data:
- Enrollment Trends by Age In 2013, 47 percent of U.S. 18- to 19-year-olds and 39 percent of 20- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in postsecondary education.
- Price of Attending Undergraduate Institutions At 4-year U.S. public institutions, the average total cost of attendance for first-time, full-time students living on campus and paying in-state tuition was $22,190 at public institutions.
- Institution Retention and Graduate Rates for Undergraduate Students In terms of student retention among first-time, full-time students who enrolled at 4-year degree-granting institutions in 2012, about 80 percent returned the following fall (in 2013), the most recent years for which numbers are available.
For information about the University System of Georgia graduation rates, degree and major information, retention rates, and degrees conferred, consult the USG by the Numbers site. Archived reports back to the early 1990s are also available.
Fall 2015 and previous semesters’ enrollment figures at VSU are available from VSU’s Office of Institutional Research, along with much additional data about the VSU community. For instance, in Fall 2015, the five most popular majors at VSU were nursing, biology, psychology, criminal justice, and communication disorders.
Good luck to students, staff, and faculty during finals week and, especially, to VSU’s graduating students. Information about graduate issues such as times of ceremonies, parking, the commencement speaker, and the lists of candidates to graduate are available at the VSU Spring 2016 Commencement Information page.