Spurred by growth at two of its extended campuses, UGA has its largest student body in history this fall with an enrollment of 34,180-the first time that enrollment has topped 34,000.
The fall semester enrollment is 349 students (1 percent) above last fall and 221 more students than the previous record of 33,959 students set in 2006.
The total includes 33,078 students on UGA’s main campus in Athens, up 1 percent from last year, and 938 students at the university’s extended campuses in Gwinnett County, Tifton, Griffin and Buckhead in Atlanta-a 6.2 percent increase from last fall. An additional 164 students are enrolled in independent study.
On the main campus in Athens, undergraduate enrollment totals 25,201, up by 207 from last year, and graduate enrollment increased by 110 students to a total of 6,324. Enrollment in the professional schools of law, pharmacy and veterinary medicine increased by four students to a total of 1,553.
The biggest increases at the extended campuses are at Buckhead, where 271 students are enrolled, and Griffin, where 106 students are enrolled. The Buckhead Campus is mainly for working professionals and enrolls only students studying for master’s degrees in business administration. This is the first enrollment report in which Buckhead students are counted separately; in previous reports, they were counted as enrolled either in Athens or at the Gwinnett Campus.
The extended campuses are a crucial factor in UGA’s efforts to promote economic growth in Georgia, according to Robert Boehmer, associate provost for institutional effectiveness.
“In response to the state’s growing needs for workforce development and access to higher education, UGA has dramatically expanded its degree programs in Buckhead, Griffin, Gwinnett and Tifton,” Boehmer said. “This effort will continue as UGA seeks to identify and implement additional degree programs uniquely suited to the needs of these key locations. UGA’s strong commitment to serving the needs of the entire state is well demonstrated by these efforts.”