VSU’s graduate student enrollment has reached an all-time high this year, boasting an enrollment of 2,361 students this fall, announced VSU’s interim president, Louis Levy, on Nov. 22.

Increasing by 12 percent since the fall of 2010 and a 14 percent increase over the past 3 years, the graduate enrollment has seen such a dramatic spike, largely due to the fully online graduate programs that VSU offers.

According to the Office of Strategic Research and Analysis, 45 percent of VSU’s 2,300+ graduate students utilize the online graduate programs, mainly the Georgia ONmyLINE (GOML) franchise, making up almost half of the grad student population.

“More and more graduate students need flexible course delivery,” Provost Phil Gunter said on VSU’s news website. “This is a growing trend across Georgia and nationally.”

“As a regional university, the growth in Valdosta State’s graduate programs helps improve the overall professional integrity of this region. Professionals working in social agencies, public administration and education are able to obtain graduate degrees, while they continue to work. This produces a highly educated workforce for our community,” said Gunter.

In addition to VSU’s graduates, the 10,728 undergraduates, though slightly down from fall 2010’s 10,794 students, put VSU’s total student population at 13,089, contributing to the record high University System enrollment of 318,027 for this fall.

“Valdosta State’s enrollment profile remains strong and appropriate for a dynamic regional university,” Levy said on VSU’s news website.

“In order to capture emerging patterns of growth in enrollment, we are constantly monitoring our new students, as well as the progression of current students.”