What is considered the 3rd and 4th best public colleges in Georgia after G Tech and UGA? (Valdosta: private school)

[Just Asking Questions]

I was born in Waycross so I have thought about which college I would have attended if my parents had not moved us to SC when I was little.

I did engineering in college and UGA did not offer traditional engineering programs in the 90s, and I probably would not have wanted to go to G Tech due to being in urban area next to an interstate.

Anyway, I recently learned Georgia Southern now offers engineering programs. Is Georgia Southern considered the 3rd best public by majority of GA residents? I actually thought it was a private school until recently.

[sedimenjerry]

I would think State or Southern. Might be some smaller public school I'm not thinking of right now.

[cwkimbro]

If we are sticking to state schools alone...

I'd say you have to go with research institutions first. They have deeper resources and better more research involved faculty.

Georgia State is the clear #3. It actually has programs that come up more often in rankings beyond that of the state's regional universities.

After that you have to consider Georgia Regents University. I wouldn't rank this as #4 for a traditional undergrad, but if we add in graduate schools it has to be. The weight and power of being the state's medical college gives it a good bit. I'm going to stick to general undergrad programs for now.

#4 Georgia Southern. It is larger and a bit more traditional that other regional and non research "comprehensive universities" in the state. One thing I would spot out is outside ranking entities (ie US News... take for a grain of salt on specifics) ranks it as a national university compared to a regional university. Other comprehensive universities in the state are ranked as southern regional universities, like KSU, University of West Georgia.

#5 Georgia College and State university. It deserves an honorable mention. It isn't a "comprehensive university" under the states classification, but a lower "state university." It is smaller and more traditional than most and well established. It often ranks higher than all of the comprehensive universities in the state and all state universities with the exception of Southern. I think it is often forgotten, because of its small size, but for those of us who have family that has been in the state for a few generations we all know of it.

#6 KSU. And I have a feeling I'm going to get some flak for this not being #4 and #5, but I think that is only because it has grown so large and so many people from the metro area go there. It is still the up and coming school, has a smaller endowment, programs that are young in development, and a campus young in development. What it does have is lots of quality students from the metro area. I have expectations for this college going into the future.

#7 University of North Georgia

#8 Valdosta State University

#9 University of West Georgia

and I will stop my list there.

Two honorable mentions I'm leaving off my list:

Georgia Regents University. The University System of Georgia only recently merged the medical college of Georgia with Augusta State University. Once it forms and becomes its own we can expect the resources of being a full research university to drift down to undergraduate education. This will make it a better place to go moving into the future. That process has just started.

The second is Georgia Gwinnett College. It probably the best state 'college.' It is brand new and grew over night. It has already been rated as one of the best state 'colleges' in the south. Recently it was #2 southern regional college by US News rankings. It is growing similar in style to that of KSU, but it has a long ways to go. I fully expect this to become a state university in the medium-term future and a comprehensive university in the long-term future.

Also... just to quickly explain the "research university," "comprehensive university," etc.... groupings I keep referring to: USG Institutions - University System of Georgia

[cnd33]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

If we are sticking to state schools alone...

I'd say you have to go with research institutions first. They have deeper resources and better more research involved faculty.

Georgia State is the clear #3. It actually has programs that come up more often in rankings beyond that of the state's regional universities.

After that you have to consider Georgia Regents University. I wouldn't rank this as #4 for a traditional undergrad, but if we add in graduate schools it has to be. The weight and power of being the state's medical college gives it a good bit. I'm going to stick to general undergrad programs for now.

#4 Georgia Southern. It is larger and a bit more traditional that other regional and non research "comprehensive universities" in the state. One thing I would spot out is outside ranking entities (ie US News... take for a grain of salt on specifics) ranks it as a national university compared to a regional university. Other comprehensive universities in the state are ranked as southern regional universities, like KSU, University of West Georgia.

#5 Georgia College and State university. It deserves an honorable mention. It isn't a "comprehensive university" under the states classification, but a lower "state university." It is smaller and more traditional than most and well established. It often ranks higher than all of the comprehensive universities in the state and all state universities with the exception of Southern. I think it is often forgotten, because of its small size, but for those of us who have family that has been in the state for a few generations we all know of it.

#6 KSU. And I have a feeling I'm going to get some flak for this not being #4 and #5, but I think that is only because it has grown so large and so many people from the metro area go there. It is still the up and coming school, has a smaller endowment, programs that are young in development, and a campus young in development. What it does have is lots of quality students from the metro area. I have expectations for this college going into the future.

#7 University of North Georgia

#8 Valdosta State University

#9 University of West Georgia

and I will stop my list there.

Two honorable mentions I'm leaving off my list:

Georgia Regents University. The University System of Georgia only recently merged the medical college of Georgia with Augusta State University. Once it forms and becomes its own we can expect the resources of being a full research university to drift down to undergraduate education. This will make it a better place to go moving into the future. That process has just started.

The second is Georgia Gwinnett College. It probably the best state 'college.' It is brand new and grew over night. It has already been rated as one of the best state 'colleges' in the south. Recently it was #2 southern regional college by US News rankings. It is growing similar in style to that of KSU, but it has a long ways to go. I fully expect this to become a state university in the medium-term future and a comprehensive university in the long-term future.

Also... just to quickly explain the "research university," "comprehensive university," etc.... groupings I keep referring to: USG Institutions - University System of Georgia

I think this is pretty accurate. Great post.