Initially intended as a night school, Georgia State University was established in 1913 as the
Georgia School of Technology's Evening School of Commerce. A reorganization of the
University System of Georgia in the 1930s led to the school becoming the Atlanta Extension Center of the University System of Georgia and allowed night students to earn degrees from several colleges in the University System. During this time, the school was divided into two divisions: Georgia Evening College and Atlanta Junior College. In September 1947, the school became affiliated with the
University of Georgia and was named the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia. For its first four decades, the school was treated as an offsite department of its parent institution, Georgia Tech, until 1947, and UGA after 1947. Accordingly, its chief executive was called a director. Walter Sparks, who had served as director since 1927, became the newly autonomous institution's first president. In 1961, other programs at the school had grown large enough that the name was shortened to Georgia State College. It became Georgia State University in 1969. The first
African-American student became enrolled at Georgia State in 1962, a year after the integration of the
University of Georgia and
Georgia Tech. Annette Lucille Hall was a
Lithonia social studies teacher who enrolled in the course of the Institute on Americanism and Communism, a course required for all Georgia
social studies teachers. The
Peachtree Road Race was founded in 1970 by Georgia State cross-country coach and dean of men Tim Singleton, heading it in its first six years before turning it over to the Atlanta Track Club. In 1995, the
Georgia Board of Regents accorded Georgia State "research university" status, joining the
University of Georgia, the
Georgia Institute of Technology, and
Augusta University.
Expansion periods 1913–1975 Over its 100-plus-year history, Georgia State's growth has required the acquisition and construction of more space to suit its needs. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, numerous buildings were constructed as part of a major urban renewal project, such as the Pullen Library in 1966, Classroom South in 1968, the expansion of the Pullen Library in 1968, the Arts and Humanities Building in 1970, the 10-story General Classroom Building in 1971 (now called Langdale Hall), the
Sports Arena in 1973, and the 12-story Urban Life Building in 1974. In addition, a raised platform and walkway system was constructed to connect these buildings over
Decatur Street and various parking structures.
1980–1989 In the 1980s, another round of expansion took place with the acquisition of the former
Atlanta Municipal Auditorium in 1979, which was subsequently converted into Alumni Hall in 1982 and then to Dahlberg Hall in 2010, and currently houses Georgia State's administrative offices. That same year, the
College of Law was founded in the Urban Life Building, and the Title Building on
Decatur Street was acquired and converted into the College of Education's headquarters and classroom space. In 1988, the nine-story Library South was constructed on the south side of Decatur Street, which was connected to the Pullen Library via a three-story high foot bridge (officially referred to as a "link") and effectively doubled the library's space.
1990–2004 Georgia State continued this growth into the 1990s, with the expansion of
Alumni Hall in 1991, the opening of the Natural Science Center in 1992, and the acquisition of the former
C&S Bank Building on
Marietta Street in 1993, which is now the home of the
Robinson College of Business. In 1998, the Student Center was expanded toward Gilmer Street A new Student Recreation Center opened on the corner of
Piedmont Avenue and Gilmer Street in 2001. amid controversy over the demolition of historical buildings on its block. Most recently, in 2004, the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies was moved to the former
Wachovia Bank Building at
Five Points.
2005–2015 After the release of the 2006 master plan update, a host of new building activities occurred on campus. A $20 million refurbishment to the Pullen Library complex was completed during the 2006–07 school year. Multiple new units of on-campus housing were built, including the 2,000 bed University Commons in 2007, a new dormitory named Freshman Hall (later renamed Patton Hall) in 2009 and a conversion of a former
Wyndham Garden Hotel and a
Baymont Inn & Suites into a new 1,100 occupancy dormitory named Piedmont North. New Greek housing was built in 2010 along
Edgewood Avenue.
2016–present The newest incarnation of the university's strategic plan gives an outline of the university's growth from 2011 until 2016 and a brief overview that will be amended for up to 2021. In 2016, an extension to the Petit Science Center was completed. Plans exist for the building of graduate student housing behind the center. The plan includes upgrades and renovations to the
GSU Sports Arena including new outdoor sand volleyball courts (which have since been completed) as well as plans to build new baseball, softball, and soccer stadiums. These would replace the current stadiums in
Panthersville. In May 2014, the university announced its intentions to pursue the
Turner Field site once the
Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball club moves into
Truist Park in 2017. The university intends to retrofit Turner Field into a 30,000-seat open-air football stadium and build a new baseball field on the site of the former
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, incorporating the wall where
Hank Aaron hit his record-breaking 715th home run. Additional retail and student housing development is also planned for the parking areas surrounding Turner Field. On December 21, 2015, the Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority announced that Georgia State's bid to redevelop Turner Field had been accepted. On August 18, 2016, Georgia State and the Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority reached a tentative purchase agreement for Turner Field, and the purchase and redevelopment plan was approved by the Board of Regents on November 9, 2016. On January 5, 2017, Georgia State's acquisition of Turner Field, since renamed
Georgia State Stadium, was officially closed, with the stadium conversion project beginning in February 2017. Georgia State Stadium hosted its first game on August 31, 2017. In June 2021,
M. Brian Blake became Georgia State University's first
African-American and
person of color president. In November 2024, Georgia State University secured $107 million to initiate significant upgrades to its downtown campus as part of a transformative plan featuring nine projects aimed at revitalizing and reimagining the campus experience. The effort was bolstered by an $80 million donation from the
Robert W. Woodruff Foundation, marking the largest gift ever made by the foundation to a
University System of Georgia institution.
Consolidation with Georgia Perimeter College On January 5, 2015, news broke that Georgia State and
Georgia Perimeter College would merge. Over a year later, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the merger of Georgia State University and Georgia Perimeter College, a 2-year college with five campuses. The board also announced that the president of Georgia State would remain the president of the combined university, which retained the name Georgia State University. The merger created the largest university in the state of Georgia at about 52,000 students. Since Georgia State's consolidation with Georgia Perimeter College in 2016, graduation rates at Perimeter College have almost tripled. ==Campus==