On April 2, GCSU’s incoming freshman class for the 2026-2027 academic year reached a record 10,000 applications, according to an Instagram post by President Cathy Cox.
GCSU consistently promotes its reputation for small class sizes, career opportunities and experiential learning on its website. However, with larger admissions, many students worry about their access to available resources on campus. This increase in applications could potentially leave current students with fewer ways to fully engage with campus.
Students think that this could affect class registration, housing and parking. Many of them believe that in light of the large number of applicants, GCSU will likely either admit fewer students or expand its resources, based on the increased admissions that led to the larger size of the current freshman class.
GCSU’s current freshman class shared their input on the increase in admitted students and its impact on their access to these resources on campus.
“I think it will make resources a lot harder to access,” said Ashley Kernodle, a freshman economics and finance major. “There is already scarce seating during the day like at the MAX and the library.”
Kernodle said that she believes admitting fewer students will help maintain GCSU’s image as a small school and allow students more access to these resources.
“I think GCSU should admit fewer students because I like the small school feel without it being super expensive,” Kernodle said. “I feel like if they expand too much more, then they will lose that aspect.”
Other students shared that the next incoming class feels far in the future, and they feel it is too soon for them to imagine a new class of freshmen on campus.
“Honestly, it’s hard for me to think about what [the increase in students] will be like, because I’m a freshman myself,” said Addison Rathbun, a freshman elementary education major. “But I definitely think next year is going to be a lot different.”
Rathbun also noted that a higher percentage of freshmen on campus may make finding housing more difficult for upperclassmen.
“I feel like [GCSU] is really pushing for upperclassmen to not come to the dorms,” Rathbun said. “I definitely think that they’re worried about not having enough spots.”
Registration was another concern among students, especially with registration week being an already competitive time.
“With more students, registration will also be way harder,” Kernodle said.
Miranda Dean, a freshman criminal justice and psychology major, expressed a mixed view of the topic. She did not see increased enrollment as fully negative, but still recognized the challenges that may arise.
“I personally am very glad that the school is getting more [students] admitted,” Dean said. “But I do think that’s going to make parking a lot harder for the students that are already here.”
Students like Kernodle, Rathbun and Dean shared similar concerns about registration, housing, parking or simply the number of students admitted. Coming from an already large class, this year’s freshmen will potentially have to adjust to thousands of new students this fall.
With this increase, students like Kernodle feel they have seen GCSU move away from its “small college” reputation, limiting the accessibility of resources on campus. Dean’s statement describing her mixed opinion highlights possible benefits. Many students believe this may affect their academic experience.
As the year concludes, prospective and current students who may want to learn more about enrollment rates, as well as their families, can find more information at gcsu.edu on the Front Page.