C ontinuing its upward momentum, Georgia College & State University (GCSU) climbed to top-10 status as a public regional university in the South and rose in several additional major categories in U.S. News & World Report’s newly released 2024 Best Colleges guidebook.

Georgia College ranks sixth for Top Public Schools—Regional Universities in the South. In the category of Undergraduate Teaching Programs, Georgia College ranks third in overall teaching excellence when compared to other public regional universities in the South. In addition, Georgia College is fourth in the Most Innovative category among public regional universities in the South.

“I am thrilled that Georgia College & State University continues to be recognized as a top-tier public university,” said President Cathy Cox. “This ranking shows the world what we already know to be true—the personal, transformational experiences that Georgia College embeds in a contemporary liberal arts education ultimately prepares our students best for successful careers.”

The category for best Undergraduate Teaching Programs for public regional universities in the South focuses on schools that “have faculty with an unusually strong commitment to undergraduate teaching,” according to the U.S. News & World Report website, and “whose faculty and administrators are committed to teaching undergraduate students in a high-quality manner.”

In the Overall Ranking for Regional Universities category—comparing private and public schools in the South—Georgia College jumped six positions to 16th, a considerable increase from 22nd in the 2023 ranking and 31st in 2018.

Georgia College's Nursing program is tied for the number one spot among public universities in the state of Georgia.

Georgia College was in the Best Value category as well.

Among public universities in the state of Georgia, the following programs were also recognized within U.S. News & World Report's Regional Universities in the South category:

• Number one for its Undergraduate Business Program
• Number one for its Psychology Program
• And number two for its Undergraduate Computer Science Program

U.S. News & World Report is a multiplatform distributor of news and information, which publishes annual print and e-book versions of its prestigious rankings of best colleges, best graduate schools and best hospitals.

The Best Colleges methodology uses a wide variety of data with graduation and retention rates the most heavily weighted factors. Other data relates to social mobility, graduate indebtedness and graduate earnings compared to high school graduates.