Grand Valley State University

Based in Michigan, Grand Valley State University (GVSU) is an arts university, established in 1960. It is now one of America's 100 largest universities as well as the fifth largest in Michigan in terms of enrolment.

There are different campuses associated to GVSU. There’s the Robert C. Pew campus in Downtown Grand Rapids, Meijer Campus in Holland, and other centres in Muskegon and Traverse City in cooperation with local community colleges.

The university consists of some eight different colleges, which are: business, community and public services, education, arts and sciences, engineering and computing, health professions, nursing and interdisciplinary studies. 

In the past, GVSU has been recognised by The Chronicle of Higher Education, as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars. 

A key attraction for many, GVSU collaborates with other educational institutions across the world to offer study abroad experiences. It has more than 4,000 study abroad opportunities.

Sustainability is a key principle for GVSU, and it was been ranked as 16th in the world for environment-friendly university management by GreenMetric World University Ranking.

There are five different libraries across the different campuses, with each collection tailored to its location. Students have the opportunity to subscribe to over 60,000 print and electronic journals and access approximately 1.5 million books.

GVSU offers plenty of opportunities for students to get involved with media. The Grand Valley Lanthorn is the student-run newspaper – which is published on Mondays and Thursdays during the academic year – while the university also owns its own Public television station called WGVU-TV. WCKS – or The Whale – is the student-run radio station, which is accessible via the internet.

Nicknamed the Lakers, GVSU's sports teams are members of the NCAA Division II, and compete in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. There are 19 intercollegiate varsity sports, which include: baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, football, tennis, swimming and diving. Impressively, the Lakers have won 16 NCAA Division II National Championships since 2002 in seven different sports.

Notable alumni include Patrick Sheane Duncan, an American writer, film producer and director, Jeffrey Chadwick, a former professional American football player, and Brian Nelson Calley, the 63rd and current Lieutenant Governor of Michigan.