Former names
|
South Georgia State Normal College, Georgia State Woman's College, Valdosta State College |
---|---|
Type | Public |
Established | 1906 |
Endowment | $20,868,659 |
President | Richard A. Carvajal |
Students | 11,563 |
Undergraduates | 9,328 |
Postgraduates | 2,235 |
Location | Valdosta, Georgia, U.S. |
Campus | 168 acres (0.68 km2) |
Colors | Red and Black |
Athletics | NCAA Division II – Gulf South |
Nickname | Blazers |
Mascot | Blaze |
Website | www |
Richard Holmes Powell | 1913–1933 |
Jere Madison Pound | 1933–1935 |
Frank Robertson Reade | 1935–1948 |
James Ralph Thaxton | 1948–1966 |
Sidney Walter Martin | 1966–1978 |
Hugh Coleman Bailey | 1978–2001 |
Ronald M. Zaccari | 2002–2008 |
Patrick J. Schloss | 2008–2011 |
William J. McKinney | 2012–2015 |
Richard A. Carvajal | 2016–present |
Valdosta State University, also referred to as VSU, or Valdosta State, is an American public university and is one of the four comprehensive universities in the University System of Georgia. Valdosta State is located on a 168-acre (0.68 km2) campus at the heart of the city of Valdosta. VSU serves over 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing 157 Georgia counties, all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa and Washington, D.C. and hosts over 300 international students from 76 countries. VSU also offers classes at Moody Air Force Base north of Valdosta in Lowndes County.
Degree levels offered at Valdosta State include: Associate's, Bachelor's, Master's, Education Specialist, and Doctoral. The university comprises the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Education, Arts, and Nursing. The Graduate School also includes the Divisions of Social Work and Library Science.
VSU is also home to the four-week residential Governor's Honors Program during the summer for academically and artistically oriented Georgia high school students.
The school that would become Valdosta State University was founded in 1906. Colonel W.S. West led the legislation through the Georgia Senate, and C.R. Ashley and E.J. McRee pushed it through the House. However, no funds were appropriated for it until 1911 when the state allocated $25,000. The city of Valdosta raised $50,000, and Col. West gave the property that is now the main part of campus to the state for use by the new institution. The president chosen was Richard Holmes Powell. His travels in the American southwest led him to choose the Spanish Mission style of architecture for the institution's buildings. The school opened as South Georgia State Normal College (SGSNC) in January 1913, with three college freshmen and 15 sub freshmen. The early students were required to wear a school uniform and paid $10 per year for tuition and $12 per month for food and board. Most came to be teachers and studied subjects from literature to physics to agriculture. In 1922, the school became a four-year college and the legislature changed the name to Georgia State Women's College