Graduation ceremonies can be confusing at Georgia Tech, even for some students who are about to receive their degrees.
Rick Clark, the school’s executive director of strategic student access, said many students who attend graduation these days ask for maps because it’s their first time on campus.
There’s more students — tens of thousands of them — taking classes online. There’s also roughly 4,600 more students physically at Georgia Tech than when Ángel Cabrera became the school’s president five years ago.
With a fall 2024 class of about 53,350 students, the school surpassed Georgia State University for the highest statewide enrollment. It’s a 46% enrollment increase since Cabrera came to Georgia Tech from George Mason University, which during his tenure accounted for more than half of all enrollment growth in Virginia.
The rapid growth, though, comes with challenges.
Located in Midtown Atlanta, there is a finite amount of room for students to live and study. Georgia Tech has also needed more professors.
“This growth has put tension on the system. There’s no way around it,” Cabrera said during an interview.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Cabrera engineered a strategy to grow enrollment through online graduate programs and by increasing the number of in-person graduate, transfer and first-year students. Yet, he wanted to maintain Georgia Tech’s status as a top research university and as one of the nation’s most selective public schools. It has resulted in Georgia Tech becoming what administrators say is the fastest-growing public university in the country.
“Most people would say you cannot do that at the same time,” Cabrera said of the balancing act. “And yet we have.”
Nearly 23,000 of GT students are enrolled in an online masters program that is now celebrating its 10-year anniversary. While that’s a 45% increase since fall 2019, Georgia Tech has experienced increases in enrollment across the board.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Since fall 2019, there’s been an 62% increase in transfer students and a 62% increase in graduate enrollment, with 32,765 in-person grad students joining the school this semester. The school has also added to its first-year students (a 25% increase) and dual enrolled high school students (a 230% increase).
“We wouldn’t have been able to do this all one way. We had to be creative,” said Clark. “The story is not about one way that we’ve grown. It’s about looking at every way we can expand.”
Georgia Tech administrators have also had to become creative in managing the growth.
To maximize available space, class hours have been expanded. Facilities like Clary Theater, a 140-person occupancy room, are now holding classes for the first time. It’s part of what Clark called “responsible growth,” ensuring that the growing class size does not hurt a student’s ability to schedule classes and graduate on time.
That growth includes the construction of Tech Square, featuring two high-rise towers that will add 415,000 square feet of academic and research space to campus. It’s set to open in 2026, as is a 860-bed residence hall. Those extra beds will be crucial as the school attempts to offer its students affordable housing in one of the most desirable and expensive parts of the city.
Credit: Eskew Dumez Ripple
Credit: Eskew Dumez Ripple
Georgia Tech has adjusted to that demand by changing the formula it uses to house students. Previously, first-year students and students with a high number of credits received priority for on-campus housing. Now the school is focusing on first-year students, new transfer students and students eligible for a Pell Grant.
Clark said data indicates that students who are new to the school or financially vulnerable are more likely to stay enrolled and graduate if they live near campus and the many resources it offers.
“If you have a kid that’s financially challenged, we want to keep them as close to campus as possible,” said Clark, referring to the new formula as a culture shift. “If we’re going to make hard decisions, let’s do the best thing we can for students.”
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Georgia Tech has added 149 permanent academic faculty members in the past year to keep up with the growing student body but has still seen an increased student to faculty ratio. In fall 2019 it stood at 19:1, but in 2023 it rose to 22:1.
Few students have experienced that growth quite like Kantwon Rogers. After joining Georgia Tech as a freshman in 2011, he went on to earn four degrees from the university, completing his Ph.D. in December. While he hasn’t noticed a more crowded campus, he’s certainly noticed plenty of the construction during his 13 years at the school. With sidewalks frequently being repaved and new buildings being erected, some students find the frequent construction bothersome, but Rogers believes it’s a net positive.
“Since I’ve been here for so long I’ve seen the result of the construction,” he said. “Like when they create these new buildings, the opportunity that brings for students to have more study spaces. So it might be a little annoying while it’s happening but when things are done I think there’s an overall benefit.”
When the first-year entering class hits 4,000 students, a mark Cabrera expects to reach next academic year, he said the school will pause its in-person growth to “take a breather” and assess faculty numbers as well as classroom and dorm space. Meanwhile, the online masters program will continue to grow, enabling Georgia Tech to reach its 2030 goal of conferring 15,000 degrees, twice the number conferred in 2019. The school conferred 12,000 this past academic year.
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
Credit: Miguel Martinez-Jimenez
For Cabrera, the goal is not increased enrollment but increased impact. A University System of Georgia report, for instance, shows the school’s $5.3 billion economic impact was more than any public university in the state.
“We’re a public university. We exist to provide a service,” Cabrera said. “If we can find more ways to serve more people, more students, give more people opportunity to grow and to contribute to our society and our economy, we will do that.”
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