Public Accountability Report Public Accountability Report

2025 Governors State University
Mission Statement Governors State University (GovState) is committed to offering an exceptional and accessible education that prepares students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to succeed in a global society.
Program Goals and Objectives
  1. Academic excellence: Provide quality, current, and relevant academic programs.
    1. Ensure that all academic programs are up to date, relevant, and in demand, while aligned with professional or discipline standards.
    2. Utilize continuous improvement processes for increasing the quality of academic programs.
    3. Provide a campus environment and infrastructure that support learning/teaching and scholarly/creative activities.
  2. Student success: Provide equitable pathways to graduation that lead to academic, personal, and career success.
    1. Deliver academic support services that advance timely degree completion goals.
    2. Provide a broad array of extra-academic support services for all GSU students.
    3. Provide meaningful opportunities for practical career application/experiential learning.
  3. High-quality faculty and staff: Create a learning environment in which highly qualified and diversified faculty and staff are hired and retained.
    1. Hire, develop, and retain diverse and exceptional faculty.
    2. Hire, develop, and retain diverse and exceptional staff.
    3. Utilize contingent faculty in an effective and strategic manner to address program and student needs.
  4. Enrollment optimization: Implement a strategic enrollment plan consistent with the university's mission.
    1. Optimize enrollment within the framework of the university’s Strategic Enrollment Management Plan.
    2. Increase enrollment of and support for our Hispanic student population.
    3. Determine and develop course/program delivery modes that support enrollment optimization.
  5. Invest in excellence: Enhance and diversify revenue streams; serve as a destination for social, cultural, and continuing education; and be an economic catalyst for the region.
    1. Increase and diversify revenue streams and external stakeholder investments to grow resources, reach, and reputation.
    2. Provide opportunities to engage with GSU as a premier community resource/destination.
    3. Contribute to workforce development and the regional economy.
  6. Social, ethical, and environmental responsibility: Institutional actions and decisions demonstrate a commitment to social, ethical, and environmental responsibility.
    1. Demonstrate a commitment to ethics, equity, inclusiveness, diversity, and accountability for all students, faculty, and staff.
    2. Integrate sustainability, environmental health, ecological stewardship, and environmental justice into campus operations, academic programs, university development, and student life.
    3. Realize the university’s public responsibility to stimulate educational, cultural, environmental, and economic development in Chicagoland and beyond, with particular emphasis on community members historically underserved by higher education.
  7. Strong cyber presence: Support the people, tools, and environment that are needed to succeed in today’s digital world.
    1. Infuse information technology excellence across the university by selecting and implementing information and communications platforms and training and support systems that are driven by university priorities and user needs.
    2. Invest in innovative instructional technologies to deliver and support excellent and accessible academic programs and student services, and build institutional digital expertise through end-user training, development, and recognition.
    3. Increase GSU’s digital visibility to promote GSU programs, faculty, and resources through our web presence, social media, news media, and digital marketing.
  8. Continuous improvement: Institutional processes for continuous improvement are guided by evidence-based decision-making to achieve the mission of the university.
    1. Each unit will undergo a strategic planning process resulting in key performance indicators that provide qualitative and quantitative data that demonstrate the unit’s contribution toward meeting the goals of the university's Strategic Plan.
    2. Engage members of the campus community in an examination of campus/unit-wide findings and data analysis.
    3. Inform the campus community about progress toward meeting Strategic Plan goals.
Source of Funds Education Assistance Fund Statutory Authority 110 ILCS 670
Fiscal Year 2026 Target/Projected Fiscal Year 2025 Actual Fiscal Year 2025 Target/Projected Fiscal Year 2024 Actual Fiscal Year 2023 Actual
Input Indicators
Total expenditures - all sources (in thousands) N/A $ 125,715.0 N/A $ 122,313.7 $ 109,620.5
Total expenditures - state appropriated funds (in thousands) N/A $ 26,579.3 N/A $ 26,058.1 $ 24,353.3
Average monthly full-time equivalents N/A 962.3 N/A 1,051.8 953.8
Total staff - all sources N/A 1,567 N/A 1,696 1,652
Total staff - state appropriated funds N/A 1,023 N/A 1,043 969.0
Output Indicators
Undergraduate headcount enrollment 2,616 2,573 2,573 2,536 2,609
Total headcount enrollment 4,349 4,399 4,399 4,338 4,427
Percentage: part-time student enrollment 37.94% 37.48% 37.48% 38.60% 41.40%
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: African American, black N/A 195.0 N/A 166.0 180.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: American Indian, Alaskan Native N/A 5.0 N/A 3.0 7.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Asian N/A 16.0 N/A 25.0 23.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Hispanic N/A 113.0 N/A 130.0 117.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander N/A 0.0 N/A 1.0 0.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: white N/A 222.0 N/A 203.0 256.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: two or more races N/A 0.0 N/A 0.0 0.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: international students N/A 12.0 N/A 9.0 7.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: not indicated N/A 15.0 N/A 23.0 30.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: African American, black N/A 133.0 N/A 116.0 149.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: American Indian, Alaskan Native N/A 0.0 N/A 3.0 2.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Asian N/A 12.0 N/A 15.0 12.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Hispanic N/A 54.0 N/A 59.0 39.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: Native Hawaiian, other Pacific Islander N/A 0.0 N/A 1.0 1.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: white N/A 126.0 N/A 143.0 171.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: two or more races N/A 0.0 N/A 0.0 0.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: international students N/A 272.0 N/A 296.0 224.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by race/ethnicity: not indicated N/A 5.0 N/A 5.0 23.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by gender: female N/A 365.0 N/A 351.0 413.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by gender: male N/A 213.0 N/A 209.0 207.0
Baccalaureate degree completions (number) by gender: not indicated N/A 0.0 N/A 0.0 N/A
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by gender: female N/A 374.0 N/A 368.0 378.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by gender: male N/A 228.0 N/A 270.0 242.0
Graduate and professional degree completions (number) by gender: not indicated N/A 0.0 N/A 0.0 1.0
Outcome Indicators
Six-year graduation rate: first-time, full-time students N/A 22.00% N/A 20.00% 20.70%
Six-year graduation rate: first-time, full-time Pell recipients N/A 15.08% N/A 15.00% 17.10%
Retention rate: first-time, full-time students N/A 61.00% N/A 46.60% 52.60%
Retention rate: new transfer cohort N/A 72.85% N/A 63.80% 70.90%
Percentage of first-time, full-time students who are Illinois residents N/A 95.36% N/A 96.50% 96.40%
Percentage of graduates, not subsequently enrolled, with stable employment one year after graduation N/A N/A N/A N/A 80.40%
Percentage of graduates, not subsequently enrolled, with stable employment earning 20% more than the typical high school graduate in Illinois one year after graduation N/A N/A N/A N/A 66.80%
Annual number of students completing teacher preparation programs N/A 39.0 N/A 38.0 44.0
Annual number of students completing nursing programs N/A 10.0 N/A 21.0 9.0
Annual number of students completing law programs N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Annual number of students completing medical programs N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Annual number of students completing dentistry programs N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Institutional pass rate: National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) - nursing (RN) N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Institutional pass rate: Illinois Bar Exam - law N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Institutional pass rate: United States Medical Licensing Exam, Step 2 - Clinical Knowledge N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Institutional pass rate: Integrated National Dental Board Exam (INDBE) - dentistry N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Efficiency/Cost-Effectiveness Indicators
Instructional cost per credit hour: all instructional levels (in dollars) N/A $ 489.95 N/A $ 433.14 $ 366.99
Percentage of total expenditures (all sources) devoted to Instruction N/A 38.00% N/A 37.32% 28.39%
Percentage of total expenditures (all sources) devoted to Research and Public Service N/A 6.44% N/A 6.37% 8.02%
Percentage of total expenditures (all sources) devoted to Academic and Student Support N/A 17.87% N/A 16.63% 12.14%
Percentage of total expenditures (all sources) devoted to all other programs N/A 37.69% N/A 39.69% 51.46%
Undergraduate degrees and certificates per 100 full-time-equivalent students (based on 30 credit hours) N/A N/A N/A N/A 32.7
Undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees: annual (based on 30 credit hours) (in dollars) N/A $ 15,806.00 N/A $ 14,506.00 $ 13,969.00
Percentage of undergraduate students receiving institutional need-based aid N/A 25.20% N/A 15.40% 22.60%
Percentage of undergraduate students receiving MAP N/A 45.60% N/A 53.30% 56.00%
Percentage of undergraduate students receiving Pell N/A 53.70% N/A 54.10% 51.40%
External Benchmarks
Undergraduate tuition and mandatory fees as a percentage of Illinois median income N/A 19.00% N/A 17.50% 19.10%

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