Awards and Recognitions
Grand Valley is considered to be among the best universities in the nation.
U.S. News & World Report
- One of the best National Universities: Grand Valley is listed among the best universities in the nation.
- A Top Public School: Grand Valley is one of the best public schools in the nation for 2025.
- Meeting learners where they are: Grand Valley's online undergraduate business program is ranked #55 nationwide.
- Increasing social mobility: Grand Valley was recognized for its graduates' successes and named one of the Top Performers on Social Mobility.
- Preparing undergraduates for the future: four GVSU undergraduate programs ranked among the best in the nation: Economics, Education, Engineering, and Nursing.
- Next level professionals: four Grand Valley graduate programs are ranked among the best in the nation: Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Public Affairs, and Physician Assistant.
The Princeton Review
- Grand Valley is, according to The Princeton Review, one of the "Best Colleges in the Midwest" for 2026.
Niche.com
- Niche.com listed Grand Valley as one of the Top Public Universities in America for 2026.
- Niche.com also includes Grand Valley in their lists of:
- Best Academics
- Best Big Colleges
- Best Professors
- Best Test Optional
- Best Location
Forbes
- Grand Valley is included in Forbes' 2026 list of "America's Top Colleges".
College Factual
- College Factual named GVSU one of the nation's best bachelor's degree colleges with 34 top-ranked majors, including criminal justice, education, health professions, and social work.
Wall Street Journal
- The Wall Street Journal/College Pulse named Grand Valley as one of the Best Colleges in the United States for 2026.
- Grand Valley's teams have celebrated 32 NCAA Division II national championship wins, with 24 coming from our women's teams.
- In recognition of offering the best NCAA Division II athletic program in the nation, Grand Valley was awarded the 2024-2025 Learfield Directors’ Cup. GVSU has earned this honor 17 times, a Division II record.
- For the 26th consecutive year, Grand Valley took home the 2024-2025 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) President's Cup Trophy. This marked the 31st in school history.
- Niche.com named Grand Valley one of the "Best Value Colleges in America" in 2026.
- Money Magazine named GVSU one of the "Best Colleges in America".
- Washington Monthly considers Grand Valley a 2025 "Best Bang for the Buck" among schools in the Midwest and shows GVSU is number one in the nation at retaining graduates in the state.
- Metro Parent says GVSU is one of the "Best Value Colleges in Michigan".
- Scholarship360 selected Grand Valley as one of the 2025 Top Colleges for Affordability.
- A Top Degree Producer: Named to Diverse: Issues in Higher Education's list of Top 100 Degree Producer Schools that confer the most degrees to minority students.
- Commitment to Service: Excelencia in Education re-certified GVSU's Seal of Excelencia through 2028 as an Intentionally Thriving Institution.
- Starting New Traditions: GVSU was recognized nationally by National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) and the Suder Foundation for its support of first-generation students.
- A Place for Everyone: Advancing Indigenous People in STEM named Grand Valley among the top colleges for Indigenous students in their Winds of Change college issue.
- Opportunities Abound in Athletics: The Grand Valley Athletics Department was honored with the 2023 NCAA/MOAA Award for Diversity and Inclusion, highlighting the department's intentionality and student-led/student-centered programming.
- Grand Valley was honored by the National Wildlife Federation in their NWF GameDay Football Zero Waste Touchdown Challenge for working to reduce landfill-bound trash. GVSU was the only Division II program recognized nationally.
- A stand-out leader in sustainability: The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) awarded Grand Valley gold status for its sustainability practices and performance as part of their Sustainable Campus Index.
- Continued momentum: For the 16th consecutive year, The Princeton Review recognized Grand Valley as one of the country's Top 50 Green Colleges, ranked #13 nationally.
- Grand Valley State University was named a “Best for Vets” college by the national news outlet Military Times, ranking #11 overall in the nation.
- For the 11th consecutive year, the Michigan Veteran Affairs Agency awarded GV gold status on its list of Michigan's Veteran-Friendly Schools. In addition, GVSU was presented with the agency's 2024 MVAA Innovator Award for "demonstrated exceptional dedication to empowering those who have served our country."
- Grand Valley was awarded Military/Veteran Friendly silver status for the 2025-2026 school year from MilitaryFriendly.com.
- CollegeChoice ranks Grand Valley at #14 on their list of the safest large colleges and universities in the nation.
- The Grand Valley Police Department is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA®), which is considered the gold standard for public safety accreditation. It is also the only university police department accredited by CALEA® in the state of Michigan.
- Grand Rapids ranks #1 in the nation on LinkedIn's 2025 "Cities on the Rise" list.
- WalletHub cites Grand Rapids as one of the best-run cities in America, ranking it #1 in the state of Michigan. WalletHub also says it's the best area to get a job and to start a career.
- Best Place to Live in the U.S. - U.S. News & World Report, 2024
- Best Cities for Young Professionals, Best Cities to Buy a House - niche.com
- U.S. Cities with Best Quality of Life - Business Insider
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Page last modified December 1, 2025