University System of Georgia’s enrollment reaches record levels

Kennesaw State University has grown quickly in the last decade by merging with one college and adding many students and programs. It reflects the change that is going on in Cobb County, which is moving toward a minority-majority county in Georgia. The school attracted national attention and controversy when five African-American cheerleaders knelt during the national anthem.

Credit: Curtis Compton

Credit: Curtis Compton

Kennesaw State University has grown quickly in the last decade by merging with one college and adding many students and programs. It reflects the change that is going on in Cobb County, which is moving toward a minority-majority county in Georgia. The school attracted national attention and controversy when five African-American cheerleaders knelt during the national anthem.

Fall enrollment at the University System of Georgia has again reached record levels, according to data released Friday.

The current enrollment is at slightly more than 325,000 students. The total was 321,549 in Fall 2016.

Much of the growth appears to come from students enrolling in graduate school, which officials said increased by nearly seven percent from 2016. Georgia Tech has the highest graduate school enrollment, with 13,799 students.

Georgia State University continues to have the highest total enrollment of any college in the system, with 51,562 students. The University of Georgia was second, with 37,606 students. Kennesaw State University was third, with 35,846 students.

University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley said his office has been focused on making sure students graduate. Graduates, he said, have increased from about 54,000 in 2011 to 65,000 this year.