Non-Traditional Student

What is a Non-Traditional Student?

  • An applicant who has been out of high school at least 5 years — OR — whose high school class graduated at least 5 years ago.
  • An applicant who has a diploma from an accredited high school as specified under Freshman requirements — OR — has satisfactorily completed the GED.
  • An applicant who has not attended college within the past 5 years.
  • An applicant who has earned fewer than 30 transferable semester (45 transferable quarter) credit hours.

Requirements:

  • Applicant must take and pass the COMPASS examination; must achieve satisfactory minimum scores in all 3 (Algebra 37, English 60, and Reading 74) test sections.
  • Applicants who do not meet minimum scores in all 3 test sections will not be granted admission.

Steps in Non-Traditional Application Process:

  • Applicant must complete the Georgia State University Undergraduate Application with $50 fee.
  • Submission of official applicable supporting documents (high school transcript, college transcript, GED scores, SAT/ACT scores if available).
  • Following review of application documents, if applicant is determined to be a Non-Traditional applicant, he/she will be contacted about details of taking the COMPASS exam.
    Please note:  Only those applicants who have been sent information about the  COMPASS exam directly from the Georgia State University Office of Admissions will be allowed to  take the exam for Non-Traditional Freshman admission.
  • Upon receipt of official COMPASS exam scores from the Georgia State University Testing Center, applicant will be contacted in writing regarding admission or denial decision.

Why is the COMPASS examination used?

COMPASS is the acronym for Computer Adaptive Placement Assessment and Support System. Georgia State University, like many other units of the University System of Georgia, uses COMPASS for an individualized evaluation to measure how prepared an applicant will be for college-level courses. Satisfactory scores in all 3 test sections is a good indication that an applicant should be successful at working toward a college degree.

Note: There is a $28 charge for taking the COMPASS.

We can offer admission to those applicants who are adequately prepared to begin college-level coursework. If an applicant is concerned that his/her high school preparation may not be adequate to enroll in college-level courses, he/she may wish to pursue applying at one of the fully accredited local two-year units (Atlanta Metropolitan College or Georgia Perimeter College) of the University System of Georgia and seek to transfer to G.S.U. after completing our transfer requirements. We require that all transfer applicants have earned a minimum of 30 transferable academic semester hours (or 45 quarter hours) and a minimum 2.5 grade point average. Although these are our minimum transfer requirements, we strongly encourage students who start at one of the 2-year units to complete the associate degree program.