Grand Valley State University

Allendale, MI · Public · 18,854 undergrads (large, town) · website ↗

Test-optional
$30 application fee

What you'll actually pay

Average net price per year — tuition, fees, room & board minus grant and scholarship aid — for in-state students by household income.

Household income	Avg net price / year
Under $30,000	$12,272
$30,000 – $48,000	$11,902
$48,000 – $75,000	$12,861
$75,000 – $110,000	$16,609
Over $110,000	$22,534
All incomes (average)	$16,317

Sticker tuition and fees: $15,140 in-state, $21,548 out-of-state — before aid, from the same earlier College Scorecard release as the net prices above.

These are averages. For an estimate for your family, use Grand Valley State University's own net price calculator — every college that takes federal student aid must publish one.

Net price calculator ↗

Other costs of attendance, 2025–26

The college's own estimate for a full-time undergraduate for the year, before aid, from the October 2026 College Scorecard. It is a newer year than the tuition and net prices above, so don't add the two together.

Housing and meals, on campus	$10,788
Housing and meals, off campus (not with family)	$9,540
Books and supplies	$800
Other expenses, on campus	$2,700
Other expenses, off campus	$2,700

Grants and loans for first-year students, 2022–23

What the college reported for its full-time, first-time students (3,843 of them) in 2022–23; 93% got some kind of aid, loans included. Each average is over the students who received that kind of aid, not over everyone. It is an older year than the 2025–26 costs above.

Type of aid	Students awarded	Average amount
Any grant or scholarshipFederal, state, local and the college's own	86%	$8,925
Federal Pell GrantNeed-based, from the federal government	32%	$5,120
The college's own grants and scholarshipsNeed- or merit-based, funded by the college	86%	$6,827
Federal student loansBorrowed by the student; repaid with interest. No Parent PLUS or private loans	50%	$5,215

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release); full-time, first-time degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates; public domain.

Admissions & outcomes

Acceptance rate: 83%
Average SAT: 1074
Median ACT: —
Students with Pell grants: 29%
Graduation rate (6yr): 67%
Freshman retention: 76%
Median earnings @ 10yr: $56,118
Median debt at graduation: $24,500
International undergrads: 244 (1.3%)

For comparison, the median across all 1,596 four-year colleges on this site: graduation rate 56%, earnings ten years after entering $54,869, debt at graduation $23,250.

Admission policy, test scores and teaching

SAT/ACT policy: Test-optional
Application fee: $30
Students per faculty member: 15 to 1
Faculty who are full-time: 66%
Open admission: No

Middle 50% of test scores, fall 2024

25th to 75th percentile of enrolled first-year students who submitted scores. A quarter scored below the first figure and a quarter above the second. Section ranges can't be added together into a total-score range.

SAT Reading and Writing: 480–600
SAT Math: 460–590
ACT composite: 22–30

What the college considers in admission decisions, fall 2023

How the college said it used each item when deciding on first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking applicants for fall 2023. For SAT and ACT scores, see the fall 2024 policy above.

High school GPA	Required
High school class rank	Considered if submitted
High school record	Required
Completion of a college-preparatory program	Required
Recommendations	Not considered
Formal demonstration of competencies (e.g. portfolio)	Not considered
English proficiency test (for applicable students)	Required
Other test (Wonderlic, WISC-III, etc.)	Not considered
Work experience	Considered if submitted
Personal statement or essay	Considered if submitted
Legacy status	Considered if submitted

First-time applicants: 24,297
Admitted: 23,008
Enrolled: 4,836

Counts of first-time, degree- or certificate-seeking students, including early decision and early action. The acceptance rate higher up this page comes from a different College Scorecard release, so it may not match these counts.

IPEDS, U.S. Department of Education, Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release), fall 2023; open admission from IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 (revised); public domain.

Most popular fields of study

Share of bachelor's degrees awarded.

Business22%

Health & Nursing14%

Biology & Life Sciences8%

Education6%

Kinesiology & Sports Science5%

Psychology5%

Communications & Media5%

Computer Science5%

Social Sciences4%

Visual & Performing Arts4%

Earnings and debt by field of study

Median annual earnings of graduates who received federal student aid and were working, not studying: one year after completing (graduates of 2020–21 and 2021–22) and four years after (2017–18 and 2018–19), measured in 2022 and 2023 and shown in 2024 dollars. Median debt is federal Direct and Grad PLUS loans borrowed at this college by 2022–23 and 2023–24 graduates; it leaves out Parent PLUS and private loans. “National” is the median for the same field and credential across all US colleges.

Bachelor's degrees (66)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Psychology, General	314	$37,251	$51,460national $50,706	$21,500
Marketing	307	$55,209	$69,592national $69,303	$20,500
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	249	$77,487	$79,188national $88,910	$23,250
Education, General	238	$45,764	$49,225national $49,808	$24,685
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness	235	$38,172	$53,175national $54,562	$22,500
Biology, General	218	$35,637	$52,176national $57,214	$22,792
Finance and Financial Management Services	208	$54,928	$71,348national $83,343	$20,500
Health Professions and Related Clinical Sciences, Other	169	$40,706	$62,482national $68,245	$21,500
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods	150	$55,309	$69,603national $86,176	$20,000
Accounting and Related Services	138	$55,302	$80,153national $76,194	$20,750
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas	120	$43,090	$49,612national $51,389	$28,144
Business Administration, Management and Operations	119	$62,887	$79,324national $68,257	$20,500
Computer and Information Sciences, General	116	$75,450	$94,330national $92,374	$24,248
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication	111	$47,798	$57,599national $63,560	$21,562
Criminal Justice and Corrections	110	$44,502	$57,537national $55,378	$21,875
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities	92	$47,197	$51,497national $53,072	$22,970
Natural Resources Conservation and Research	89	$38,864	$49,113national $55,012	$23,000
Social Work	89	$41,065	$50,690national $51,790	$20,500
Business/Commerce, General	80	$52,236	$61,553national $68,407	$22,522
English Language and Literature, General	77	$42,194	$45,237national $48,590	$25,500
Special Education and Teaching	74	—	$49,814national $50,499	$28,098
Communication and Media Studies	71	$42,561	$46,938national $56,359	$20,989
Neurobiology and Neurosciences	67	$36,138	$57,842national $62,451	$25,000
Film/Video and Photographic Arts	66	$27,609	$39,082national $43,765	$21,500
Fine and Studio Arts	65	$32,226	$39,307national $41,367	$26,697
Political Science and Government	62	$36,140	$48,896national $63,293	$22,139
Mathematics	60	$48,209	$51,753national $69,562	$23,286
Mechanical Engineering	59	$78,337	$90,565national $92,135	$27,000
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	55	—	—national $58,928	$24,250
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	53	$68,961	$70,655national $70,786	$24,500
Business/Managerial Economics	51	$52,656	$73,241national $77,981	$19,500
Human Resources Management and Services	46	$58,699	$75,800national $68,069	$17,750
Hospitality Administration/Management	40	$45,932	$58,413national $56,726	$20,500
History	39	$37,614	$47,218national $50,680	$22,625
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	37	$42,912	$50,291national $55,792	$21,500
Legal Support Services	36	$44,377	$57,728national $53,266	$21,000
Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies	33	$40,239	$43,552national $48,471	$24,450
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering	30	$89,028	$100,456national $100,647	$22,250
Social Sciences, General	30	$45,150	$52,520national $53,366	$23,965
Music	28	$43,397	$49,111national $42,892	$24,750
Zoology/Animal Biology	27	—	—national $44,055	$23,352
Statistics	26	$53,430	$74,229national $92,425	$21,500
Public Administration	23	$48,070	$49,776national $65,093	$27,000
Information Science/Studies	22	$70,328	$81,420national $85,294	$25,500
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology	21	$49,097	$59,476national $65,466	$21,499
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication	20	$39,078	$43,011national $50,497	$16,250
Cell/Cellular Biology and Anatomical Sciences	20	—	$63,043national $66,697	$20,500
Sociology	19	$41,378	$48,664national $52,657	$21,500
International Relations and National Security Studies	18	$39,684	$58,802national $66,596	$21,499
Health and Medical Administrative Services	17	$44,726	$51,027national $58,716	$26,498
Quality Control and Safety Technologies/Technicians	16	$72,846	$80,398national $86,525	$26,000
Computer Engineering	15	$79,660	$103,253national $109,015	$30,250
Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics	13	$35,142	$53,715national $55,000	$23,141
Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences	13	$48,485	$61,868national $60,190	—
Anthropology	13	$30,897	$42,796national $46,676	$21,875
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations	13	$55,025	$77,581national $61,027	—
International Business	13	$60,548	$80,324national $73,201	—
Chemistry	11	—	$70,611national $65,120	—
Biological and Physical Sciences	10	$41,809	$45,090national $58,891	$19,500
Economics	10	$46,806	—national $82,686	—
Manufacturing Engineering	9	$77,793	$95,416national $88,451	—
Geography and Cartography	8	$48,926	$61,831national $57,853	—
International/Globalization Studies	7	$28,685	—national $59,972	—
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies	5	—	$51,872national $51,710	—
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs	5	—	$62,501national $61,911	—
Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other	—	$46,750	$57,771national $55,384	$21,875

Undergraduate certificates (4)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Geography and Cartography	38	$45,649	$56,401national $58,705	$25,000
Educational Administration and Supervision	27	—	—national $47,094	$20,500
History	27	$42,333	—national $53,929	$20,500
Legal Support Services	20	—	—national $49,747	$21,500

Master's degrees (20)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Social Work	128	$55,701	$59,369national $65,123	$44,287
Computer and Information Sciences, General	89	$93,683	—national $124,201	—
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	73	$70,667	$67,254national $71,416	$66,430
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions	72	$111,349	$122,497national $127,347	$79,215
Business/Commerce, General	63	$99,194	$128,108national $125,988	$21,354
Educational Administration and Supervision	53	$58,518	$65,512national $71,685	$28,751
Accounting and Related Services	53	$71,991	$90,295national $95,833	$26,595
Curriculum and Instruction	49	$56,581	$57,952national $63,399	$24,500
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services	45	$55,794	$64,351national $67,030	$61,277
Public Health	41	$57,411	$66,677national $82,751	$41,810
Student Counseling and Personnel Services	39	$59,377	$53,038national $60,111	$30,816
Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology	28	$73,625	$108,615national $110,121	—
Health and Medical Administrative Services	27	$70,701	$82,978national $89,981	$45,594
Public Administration	26	$59,783	$71,404national $81,408	$32,466
Education, General	24	$59,119	$60,263national $65,824	—
Special Education and Teaching	23	$55,294	$64,816national $64,397	$24,243
Dietetics and Clinical Nutrition Services	17	$56,420	$67,724national $62,269	$40,146
Communication and Media Studies	14	$50,432	$74,663national $71,953	—
Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology	9	$59,760	$58,806national $65,184	—
Educational/Instructional Media Design	8	—	$59,199national $70,644	—

First professional degrees (2)

Field of study	Degrees awarded 2023–24	Earnings, 1 yr after	Earnings, 4 yrs after	Median federal debt
Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions	62	$77,128	—national $81,641	$112,454
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	13	$104,985	$112,011national $133,099	$46,498

A dash means the Department of Education suppressed the figure because too few graduates were measured — not zero. 75 more programmes at this college have every figure suppressed and are not listed.

Contact and accreditation

Address: 1 Campus Dr, Allendale, MI 49401-9403
Phone: (616) 331-2020
Institutional accreditor: Higher Learning Commission

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Sources: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts) and IPEDS Fall Enrolment for international student counts. College Scorecard, October 2026 release: net price calculator link, mission flags and religious affiliation (2025–26), enrolment shares, test policy, SAT/ACT ranges and student-to-faculty ratio (fall 2024), cost-of-attendance components (2025–26), and earnings and debt by field of study. IPEDS Institutional Characteristics 2023–24 for the application fee and the IPEDS 2024 directory for the phone number. IPEDS Admissions 2023–24 (ADM2023, provisional release) for admission requirements and first-time applicants, admits and enrolments (fall 2023). IPEDS Student Financial Aid 2022–23 (SFA2223, provisional release) for grants and loans to full-time, first-time students. All are U.S. Department of Education data in the public domain. Verify current costs and requirements with the school.

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