City: Savannah, GA

Category: Education

Telephone: (912) 356-2186

Description: Savannah State University has three colleges—Sciences and Technology, Business Administration, and Liberal Arts and Social Sciences—offering a total of 22 undergraduate degrees and 4 master’s degree programs (social work, urban studies, marine sciences, and public administration). The campus, located adjacent to the town of Thunderbolt, covers 173 acres, many of them shaded by large oak trees festooned with Spanish moss. The eastern portion of the campus is bordered by salt marsh and the Wilmington River; that and the school’s proximity to the Atlantic Ocean (about 8 air miles) led to its sobriquet of “College by the Sea,” which it was called for many years before its upgrade to university status by the Georgia Board of Regents in 1996. Now it’s known, not surprisingly, as the “University by the Sea.” The school’s location also lends a uniqueness to the university’s marine sciences program; the program is the only one of its kind in the state situated in a natural setting. Among features of the program is the Sea Otter, a 35-foot cabin cruiser that’s used for exposing students to marine science research. The school was founded in 1890 as Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth and retained that name until 1950, when the regents dubbed it Savannah State College. It is the oldest public, historically black college in Georgia, and Savannah State has a student body that is 90 percent African-American, but university officials say the student population and faculty become more diverse each year. There are approximately 2,900 students and 145 instructors, about 70 percent of whom hold doctorates.Savannah State has a full-scale athletic program and competes intercollegiately in football, baseball, men’s and women’s track and field, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s tennis, volleyball, and cross-country. The school achieved Division I status in 2002.