Grand Valley students don’t just learn skills; they learn how to think for a lifetime. Graduates leave Grand Valley’s campuses with experiences that prepare them well for success in life, on the job, and in the community.
 

• The middle 50 percent of the Fall 2023 freshmen class earned high school GPAs from 3.1 to 3.91, Composite ACT scores of 21 to 28, and SAT scores of 950 to 1180.
   
• Grand Valley’s liberal education foundation spans all 102 undergraduate and 45 graduate programs, integrating disciplines so students connect topics and view the world from a broad perspective — better equipping them to make both personal and civic decisions.
   
• Our liberal education, whether through foundation courses or the liberal studies major, allows personalization through electives, clubs, and events — ensuring every student receives the education that prepares them for success.
   
• Grand Valley offers opportunities for undergraduate students to collaborate with faculty members on research projects that are only available to graduate students at other schools.
   
• At Grand Valley, learning takes place outside the classroom, as well as inside. More than 5,250 students participated in internships, co-ops, practica, and student teaching in 2022-2023.

• Inclusion is a university value, a part of the culture, and a cornerstone of the curriculum. Grand Valley has many offices, centers, and student organizations dedicated to meeting the needs of a diverse university. During the 2024-2025 academic year, 625 international students representing 77 different countries enrolled at Grand Valley.
   
• Grand Valley’s graduation rate is consistently in the top tier of state public universities and currently ranks fourth.
   
• The Graduate School at Grand Valley provides leadership and support for graduate education. The office offers programming and advising to assist masters and doctoral students, oversees graduate assistantships, and works with all 45 of Grand Valley’s graduate programs.
   
• Grand Valley students and alumni secured awards in international competitions worth more than $5 million thanks to help from the Meijer Office of Fellowships in the Frederik Meijer Honors College.
   
• The Peter C. Cook Leadership Academy at the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies inspires potential leaders to serve their community, state, and nation. Each year 60+ students take part in the cocurricular and crossdisciplinary program that provides them opportunities to expand their horizons and engage the community.

Grand Valley continually sets new standards for excellence in how facilities are used to promote academic achievement.
 

• A synergistic health campus is taking shape along Grand Rapids’ Medical Mile, anchored by the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. Raleigh J. Finkelstein Hall opened in May 2018. The five-story, 84,000-square-foot building will help meet increasing student interest as well as demand for health care professionals. The Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) opened May 2021, and includes one of the largest interprofessional, comprehensive, state-of-the-art simulation centers in Michigan. Highlights include electronic 3D modeling and imaging of the body and its organs, plastinated specimens, a virtual anatomy table and classrooms with interactive walls and floors.
   
• A 47,000-square-foot addition to the Thomas J. and Marcia J. Haas Center for Performing Arts is part of an extensive expansion and renovation project to meet the needs of the university’s growing arts programs. The two-story addition includes the Linn Maxwell Keller Black Box Theatre as well as more classrooms, music ensemble rooms, and enlarged study space. The improvements complement the existing Louis Armstrong Theatre and the university’s art gallery.
   
• The P. Douglas Kindschi Hall of Science opened in August 2015 on the Allendale Campus. With four stories and 151,000 square feet, the building helps attract and educate talented students in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and health professions fields. Of Grand Valley’s 96 undergraduate programs and 45 graduate programs, more than 100 touch on the STEM and health professions in some way.

• The Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Commons on the Allendale Campus is the intellectual heart of the university and is nationally recognized as a model for 21st-century learning. It features a knowledge market with peer experts to provide research, writing, technology, and presentation coaching, as well as a capacity for 150,000 books on open shelves and 600,000 library items in an automated retrieval system. GVSU's four libraries contain 400,000+ physical titles, 1,500,000+ e-book titles, and 100,000+ e-journals in addition to access to over 300 databases and 300,000+ streaming media files. 
   
• The field station building at Grand Valley’s Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute in Muskegon offers space for year-round research, encouraging better science and better solutions to the issues facing our freshwater resources.
   
• Construction projects in 2022 pumped more than $37 million into Kent, Ottawa, Musekgon, and Wayne counties; These projects supported 717 trade and construction jobs.
   
• Grand Valley’s commitment to sustainability and the environment is evident in meeting LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) specifications in all new construction projects.

West Michigan is a great place to live, and Grand Valley helps drive our region’s and entire state’s economic growth. Grand Valley students and alumni have unique opportunities to learn and work in up-and-coming industries because Grand Valley is involved in advancing those new industries. This is a result of a curriculum that is relevant and adaptable to the current and future needs of West Michigan, the state, and beyond.
 

• Students from every county in Michigan choose Grand Valley — the top six counties of origin for incoming freshmen are Kent, Oakland, Ottawa, Wayne, Macomb, and Muskegon.
   
• Students come to Grand Valley from across the country and around the world — in the 2024-2025 academic year, Grand Valley enrolled 625 students from 77 different countries.
   
• Grand Valley campuses: Allendale, Grand Rapids - Health, Grand Rapids - Pew, and Holland; regional centers in Detroit, Muskegon, Battle Creek, and Traverse City. Being located on Michigan’s West Coast, students are close to the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan, the cultural opportunities of Grand Rapids, and only a few hours from the major metropolitan opportunities of Detroit and Chicago.

• The Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids Campus and the growing Health Campus are located in the heart of Michigan’s second largest city, close to internship, employment, and community outreach programs.
   
• Top employers of Grand Valley graduates include well-known West Michigan companies such as Amway Corp., BDO USA LLP, Gentex Corp., Haworth Inc., Herman Miller Inc., Meijer Inc., Perrigo Co., Spectrum Health/Priority Health, Steelcase Inc., and Gordon Food Service.
   
• The free Campus Connector shuttle links students, faculty members, and staff members to the entire Grand Rapids transit system reducing the number of cars on the road. The 2022-2023 partnership with the Rapid resulted in 1,048,017 rides with 8,829,530 vehicle miles saved. 

Excellent academic credentials, unparalleled dedication, and active engagement in their scholarship and disciplines make for energized, accessible, and responsive faculty members.

• Ninety-four percent of regular faculty members have earned their doctorate or other terminal degree.
   
• Outstanding faculty members teach the majority of classes and inspire learning and self-discovery. An average class size of 24 students and a student-to-faculty ratio of 15:1 ensure a more personal classroom experience.
   
• Grand Valley faculty members love to teach and believe research mentoring is an important teaching method. Through active, engaged scholarship in student-directed research projects, they inspire students’ passions for learning, self-discovery, and incorporating academics with professional work.

• During the 2024-2025 academic year, Grand Valley employed 1,180 full- and part-time faculty members. Grand Valley’s part-time faculty members bring invaluable industry experience and real-world learning to the classroom and provide career connections and opportunities.
   
• Grand Valley was named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution for the number of faculty members who teach and conduct research overseas. More than 55 Grand Valley faculty and staff members have earned Fulbright awards since 1964.

Grand Valley costs less than most other Michigan public universities and has been named one of America’s 100 Best College Buys for 25 years in a row.
 

• Of all the 2022 graduates who graduated in four years or fewer, 40 percent had no debt.
   
• Grand Valley provides high-quality education opportunities at an affordable tuition rate, with rates lower than Michigan State, Michigan Tech, Wayne State and Ferris. 
   
• In the 2022-23 academic year, more than 22,600 Grand Valley students received more than $289 million in total financial aid.
   
• Grand Valley’s liberal education focus emphasizes critical thinking, creative problem solving, and cultural understanding — preparing students for life in a fast-changing world. Accordingly, 97 percent of recent Grand Valley graduates are successfully employed or pursuing advanced degrees. Of those working, 86 percent are employed in Michigan.

• Through basic and applied research, artistic expression and performance, and other forms of scholarship, GVSU faculty members not only contribute to the development and application of knowledge while creating a dynamic environment for learning, but also contribute to the economic progress of the region that they serve.
   
• Construction projects in 2022 pumped more than $37 million into Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, and Wayne counties; These projects supported 717 trade and construction jobs.