Former names
|
Grand Valley State College (1960–1973) (1983–1987) Grand Valley State Colleges (1973–1983) |
---|---|
Motto | Educating students to shape their lives, their professions, and their societies. |
Type | Public university |
Established | 1960 |
Endowment | $104+ million |
President | Thomas J. Haas |
Provost | Gayle R. Davis |
Academic staff
|
1,678 |
Students | 25,460 |
Undergraduates | 22,209 |
Postgraduates | 3,251 |
Location | Allendale & Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
Campus | Allendale campus: suburban 1,322 acres (5.35 km2) Robert C. Pew Grand Rapids campus: urban 69 acres (0.28 km2) |
Colors | Laker Blue, Black, White |
Athletics | NCAA Division II – GLIAC |
Sports | 20 varsity teams (9 men's & 11 women's) |
Nickname | Lakers |
Mascot | Louie the Laker |
Website | www.gvsu.edu |
University rankings | |
---|---|
National | |
Forbes | 537 |
Regional | |
U.S. News & World Report | 26 |
Master's University class | |
Washington Monthly | 21 |
Grand Valley State College (1960–1973) (1983–1987)
Grand Valley State University (commonly referred to as GVSU, GV, or Grand Valley) is a public liberal arts university located in Allendale, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1960, and its main campus is situated on 1,322 acres (5.35 km2) approximately 12 miles (19 km) west of Grand Rapids. Classes are also offered at the university's growing Robert C. Pew Campus in Downtown Grand Rapids, Meijer Campus in Holland, and through centers at Muskegon and Traverse City established in cooperation with local community colleges.
GVSU is a comprehensive coeducational university serving more than 25,460 students as of fall 2016, from all 83 Michigan counties and dozens of other states and foreign countries. It is one of America's 100 largest universities as well as the fifth largest in Michigan in terms of enrollment, and employs more than 3,000 people with about 1,657 academic faculty and 1,623 support staff. The university currently has alumni residing in all 50 U.S. states, Canada, and 25 countries around the world. For the 2010–2011 academic year, GVSU was recognized as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars for master's institutions by The Chronicle of Higher Education. GVSU has also been noted for its sustainability efforts, ranking as high as 16th in the world for environment-friendly university management by GreenMetric World University Ranking in 2011.
GVSU's NCAA Division II sports teams are called the Lakers. They compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) in all 19 intercollegiate varsity sports and have won the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Directors' Cup for NCAA Division II every year from 2004 to 2011 after finishing second in 2002 and 2003. The Lakers have won 16 NCAA Division II National Championships since 2002 in seven different sports.