Grand Valley State University is a public liberal arts University spread in about 1322 acres of land and was established in 1960. The University is located in Allendale, Michigan. It offers admission to students into about 140 graduate as well as undergraduate courses and is a renowned name in the US Education System. The most popular courses at Grand Valley State University are business, health, and engineering.

The university is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission of the U.S. Department of Education and is one the coveted choices for studying in the USA.The student to teachers ratio at the University is 16:1 which provides a great studying environment to the students. The institute provides financial aid to about 90% of the students. The average class size at the University is 26 with a student retention rate of 84%.

It is one of the top 100 universities in America in terms of Enrolment but it still strives to make liberal education the base to all academic programs. The total enrollment of the university was 24,033 students in the year 2013-24 with students from all states of America and 79 different countries across the globe. Admissions at Grand Valley State University are available in 4 intakes of Fall, Summer, Spring and Winter and observes an acceptance rate of 81%.

Grand Valley State University Rankings

The Rankings for Grand Valley State University are:

Ranking Agencies Ranks
The QS Ranking (2023) Not Marked
CWUR(2023) Not Marked
Times Higher Education >600
US News Ranking (2023) 28 (Regional University, Mid-West)
Webometrics (2023) 271
  • #20 Best college for veterans
  • #21 Best Value Schools
  • #8 Most Innovative Schools
  • #58 Top Performers on Social Mobility
  • #3 Top Public School
  • #60 Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs

Grand Valley State University Highlights

Type Public
Campus Setting Suburban
Location Allendale, Michigan
Endowment 133 million USD (2019)
Cost of Attendance In State-24948 USD
Out of State- 30226 USD.
Campus Housing Capacity The campus has various types of housing styles available including gender inclusive housing, Living Learning Communities. Off campus housing is also available.
Application Accepted Online and Offline.
Application fee $30 ( Non-Refundable )
Financial Aid Loans, Grants, Scholarships.
Admission Helpdesk Admissions Office
300 Student Services Building
1 Campus Drive
Allendale, Michigan 49401

Grand Valley State University Campus 

  • Grand Valley State University has a total of 7 campuses. The main campus of the University is located in Allendale Michigan and was established in 1960. The campus is spread in about 15.5km² of land.
  • The academic facilities on the Main Campus of Grand Valley include 122 classrooms, 144 research laboratories, 20 lab prep rooms, 21 computer labs, and the Mary Idema Pew Library Learning and Information Center.
  • The main campus also has a residence facility. It has about 6400 beds in different styles such as traditional style, suite style, apartment styles among others.
  • There are two campuses located in the Grand Rapids including the Graduate School and the Health Campus.
  • The University has its International branch located in Holland and is named Meijer Campus.
  • The other campuses of the University include Detroit Center of SouthEast Michigan, Muskegon Regional Center and Traverse City Regional Center.

Grand Valley State University Accommodation

  • Grand Valley State University has on campus residence as well as off campus residence facilities.
  • The on-campus residence offers the students a chance to make connections, find opportunities and gain experience.
  • The Allendale and Grand Rapids branches of the University have really good residence facilities available.
  • There are numerous options for residence at the University including traditional style, cluster style, suite style and apartment styles, among others.
  • There are many apartments available in the Allendale campus namely the Grand Valley Apartments, Laker Village Apartments, Murray & Vansteeland Apartments, Niemyer, Off campus housing, family housing and more.
  • The Grand Rapids also has 2 residence facilities including the winter hall, Secchia Hall.
  • The on-campus residents also enjoy various facilities like sport clubs and other social involvements.

Grand Valley State University Programs

  • Grand Valley State University offers courses including about 236 Undergraduate and Graduate programs in different fields.
  • There are a total of around 120 undergraduate programs in the fields of Business, Management, Marketing, Communication, Journalism, psychology, fitness, Health Professions and related services and more.
  • The University offers about 50 graduate programs in the fields of communication, cyber security, accounting and English, among others.
  • The University also offers combined degree programs in computer science, engineering, accounting and more.
Programs Fees per Annum
Bachelors of Business Administration $18884-$19492
M.S. Applied Computer Science $18884-$19492
Sports Management B.S. $18884-$19492
Electrical Engineer B.S.E $18884-$19492
M.S. Applied Statistics $18884-$19492
Masters of Public Administration $18884-$19492
Electrical Engineer M.S.E $18884-$19492

Grand Valley State University Application Process

Seeking admission at the Grand Valley State University is not really a hard nut to crack. Here are some points you have to keep in mind before applying for the admission.

How to apply?

Application Portal: Students need to apply via the international application or can apply via the paper application.

Application Fee: 30 USD

Basic Admission Requirements:

  • All the original academic records of any secondary school or university previously attended.
  • TOEFL, IELTS and PTE scores.
  • ACT or SAT scores
Test Score
ACT 21 to 27
SAT 1050 to 1240
  • An essay answering “How your personal experience and cultural heritage has helped you become the person you are today and how those experiences will impact the Grand Valley State University?”
  • Letter of Recommendation.
  • Interviews may be taken.
  • Scores of Standardized exams to study in the USA
  • Personal Statement
  • Statement of Financial Support (showing Bank statement of minimum balance 28,500 USD for undergraduate and 22,500 USD for graduate)

English scores including

English Proficiency Test Required score
IELTS 6.5
TOEFL 80
PTE 53
MELAB 77

Application Deadlines

The application deadline for Undergraduate and Graduate courses are different. If you want to apply for Grand Valley State University you must keep two date into your consideration:

Undergraduate admissions

Term Deadline
Fall February 1, 2024
Winter September 10, 2023
Spring February 1, 2024
Summer May 1, 2023

Graduate admissions

Term Deadline
Fall February 1, 2024
Winter September 10, 2023
Spring February 1, 2024
Summer May 1, 2023

Note that due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the admission process might be delayed by a few days.

Grand Valley State University Cost of Attendance

The estimated fee of the college is decided by the tuition fees and other fees that includes books, room charge and more.

The total fee is about 24,948 USD without any financial aid out of which the tuition fee is 12,484 USD and the other fee is 12,464 USD. The average fee is 16,975 USD with financial aid.

The The estimated budget to study in the US comprising the cost of living for international graduate and undergraduate students is mentioned-below in the table:

Category Cost (in USD)
Undergraduate Tuition and fees 18,000 USD
Graduate Tuition and fees 12,900 USD
Rooms and boards 10,000 USD
Food 3,542
Books and Supplies 728
Personal Expenses 2,616
Transportation Costs 1,360

Grand Valley State University Placement

The Grand Valley State University provides great graduate employment opportunity. Around 75% gets placed at a full-time job after their graduation and the rest chooses to study further, and around 7% of the graduates are into part-time jobs.

GVSU provides several career fairs, Resume Reviews, Virtual and Computing Interviews, Teacher Education Fair, and several internship opportunities for the graduates.

The institution boasts that around 57% students receive jobs before graduating, 33% receives an offer within 3 months of graduation, and around 8% students receive jobs within 3-6 months of graduation.

When the median salary of Alumni is compared at the institution by jobs, we see that the highest paying jobs for a graduate of Grand Valley State University are $58000 annually. Whereas, when we compare the median salary of graduates in terms of degrees, we see that the Bachelors of Arts and Science pays the highest average at $63000 and $ 54000 respectively.

The overall average salary of a graduate is $59371. Mentioned below is the College Salary report according to the Pay-Scale:

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Career Median Salary
Early Career $49900
Mid-Career $86600
College Salary Report Rank 888th

According to the Pay-Scale, around 44.2% graduates starts an early career, 26.4% are in their mid-career, and 17.4%, 6.8%, 5.1% are in Experienced, Late Career, and Entry Level respectively.

Mentioned below are the top hiring companies from Grand Valley State University and the average salary range paid by them:

Company Average Salary
Spectrum Health $39k-$98k
Perrigo Company $56k-$129k
National Heritage Academy $42k-$69k
Meijer, Inc. $49k-$128k
Steelcase, Inc. $75k-$108k

Grand Valley State University Scholarships

  • In Grand Valley State University, almost 90% of students receive some type of financial aid services. International students are offered scholarships to afford the study in the USA.
  • There are numerous forms of Financial Aids including scholarships, loans, grants and others.
  • The grants offered are based on the academic accomplishments of the students.
  • Some awards offered at the University include:

International Merit Award

  • For graduate and undergraduate students
  • Award worth 5,000 USD
  • Offered to all students with outstanding academic performance
  • Award based on academic credentials, personal statement, and extracurricular activities.
  • Deadline- May 1

Presidential scholarship

  • Annual award of range 4,000 USD to 7,000 USD
  • GPA of 3.8 or higher and ACT score of 32 or SAT score of 1430
  • Must participate in a Scholarship competition held in December and January.
  • Renewable for three year.
  • Some of the Scholarship programs include:
    • Go Clean Scholarship which offers a 3555 USD aid.
    • Ritchie-Jennings Scholarship offers an aid of 10120 USD.
    • Inlaks Scholarship offers an aid of 10120 USD.

Work while studying

In Grand Valley State University all departments and the community create part-time and summer employment opportunities for students. Grand Valley has a database known as Handshake for job-seeking students. Students can work up to 10 to 15 hours per week which can help in financing their education and developing their career skills.

Highly qualified graduate students of grand valley can be considered for Graduate Assistantships which can help them with their financial need and skills. There are numerous opportunities for Off-campus employment since University is located in a suburban area.

Grand Valley State University Alumni Network

Grand Valley State University has alumni in sports, art, media, politics and others.

Notable Alumni include:

  • Brain Calley.
  • Brandon Carr.
  • Jeff Chadwick.
  • The Crane Wives.
  • Paul Cranmer.
  • Frank Foster.
  • Mike Gravier.
  • Matt Judon.
  • Kevin Lee.
  • Charles Johnson.
  • John Keating.

The university offers many special services to the alumnus which include career services and access to many different facilities.