Quick facts

Enrollment

• With about 6,500 students, North Georgia continues its steady growth and outstanding service to the state of Georgia. North Georgia's fall 2012 enrollment of about 6,500 was 5 percent more than the previous year.

• North Georgia's Corps of Cadets comprises some 800 students, about 13 percent of the student body.

Academics

• North Georgia offers more than 50 programs of study and confers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

• North Georgia's incoming freshmen have among the highest average high school GPA of all institutions in the University System of Georgia, behind only the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech.

• A state-designated leadership institution, North Georgia is the state's only university to offer a leadership minor.

• North Georgia consistently maintains one of the highest graduation rates in the University System of Georgia.

• In America's Best Colleges 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranks North Georgia College & State University as No. 22 in the South among public universities offering undergraduate and master's programs.

• North Georgia, in partnership with Gainesville State College, opened University Center | GA 400, an instructional site in Cumming, Ga., in fall 2012.

• North Georgia is the Southeast region's site for the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators national testing certification, and is one of the only two higher education institutions nationwide to administer the specialized MDI certification.

• In 2012, North Georgia was named one of the nation's 100 Best Values in higher education by Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine. The designation is based on academic excellence and affordability.

• In 2011, North Georgia was designated as a Pilot Flagship/ROTC Center in Chinese by the Department of Defense's National Security Education Program (NSEP) to help U.S. Army cadets achieve proficiency in Chinese language and culture.

Campus & Community

• North Georgia is located in historic Dahlonega, Ga., about one hour north of Atlanta and site of the first U.S. gold rush (1828), yet nestled in the beautiful north Georgia mountains.

• North Georgia's main campus covers 112 acres with more than 50 buildings, including new residence halls, parking decks, and dining hall and a new building housing the bookstore, infirmary and university offices.

• Price Memorial Hall, whose majestic steeple is covered with Dahlonega gold, is a nationally registered historic site that was once a U.S. Mint.

• North Georgia College & State University has earned Community Engagement  Classification from The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, an endorsement that will help the university strengthen and expand its collaborations with communities across northeast Georgia.

• North Georgia's economic impact on Lumpkin and the five surrounding counties was $230 million and about 2,500 jobs during Fiscal Year 2010.

•  The university has a leading role in the $42 million North Georgia Network broadband initiative, a public-private partnership that includes area electric membership corporations and economic development agencies who aim to develop a 260-mile regional fiber-optic system to bring high-speed Internet service to areas of northeast Georgia that currently have little or no access to the technology.

• A $1.8 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration is being used for the next five years to sustain North Georgia's Appalachian Nurse Practitioner Clinic, which provides primary care to approximately 300 patients a month for uninsured and low income residents in a seven county area. 

Leadership

•  Specializing in leadership training and producing leaders since its inception, the university is designated by the Board of Regents as a Leadership Institution of Georgia for civilian and military students.

• All North Georgia students take a Foundations of Leadership course and the university offers a leadership minor as part of its academic programs.

Military Distinction

• North Georgia College & State University is one of only six senior military colleges in the United States, and is designated by the Georgia General Assembly as The Military College of Georgia. (The other senior military colleges are The Citadel, Norwich University, Texas A&M, Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia Tech.)

• North Georgia's alumni include 36 generals and admirals who have helped lead our nation's military.

• North Georgia College's first class of students, in 1873, requested that military training be a part of the curriculum.

• As a recipient of a 2010 MacArthur Award, North Georgia's Corps of Cadets was named one of the top ROTC units in the nation. Presented since 1989, the awards recognize unit performance based on the ideals of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. North Georgia also received the MacArthur Award in 1991 and 1995.  

Athletics

• North Georgia is a member of the NCAA-Division II Peach Belt Conference.

• Sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis and shooting sports.

• North Georgia dedicated two new athletics facilities in spring 2010 -- the Bob Stein Baseball Stadium and the Carolyn and Haines Hill Softball Stadium, each named for the donors who made them possible.

History

• Following the Civil War, the abandoned U. S. Mint property in Dahlonega was given to the State of Georgia for educational purposes, thus giving birth to what is now North Georgia College & State University.

• The university was established in 1873 through the efforts of William Pierce Price, who secured financing through the Morrill Act (which established a program for land-grant institutions) to establish a state school for the mountain communities. Price was a statesman who served in various elected offices on the local, state and federal levels and served as president of the Board of Trustees for the university at its inception. The university's first president was David W. Lewis.

• Originally named North Georgia Agricultural College, the institution was established as a land-grant school of agriculture and mechanical arts, particularly mining engineering. As area gold mining resources were depleted and agricultural education was assumed by the University of Georgia, the mission of North Georgia evolved into one emphasizing arts and sciences.

• North Georgia has the distinction of being the first co-educational college in the state and the first to graduate a woman, in 1878.

• The school was renamed North Georgia College in the summer of 1929. The college gained university status in 1996 and was renamed North Georgia College & State University.

To learn more about the founding and history of North Georgia College & State University, please visit our digital archives.