Grand Valley State University student guide: cost, food, housing & tips

Grand Valley at a glance

18,854

undergrads

83%

of applicants admitted

76%

come back for year 2

67%

graduate

15 : 1

students per teacher

$60,120

typical pay 10 years in

Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard.

What a year really costs

After grants and scholarships, by family income. Average: $16,495.

Under $30k $12,444

$30k–$48k $12,223

$48k–$75k $12,816

$75k–$110k $16,724

Over $110k $23,196

Tuition, in state

$15,872

Tuition, out of state

$22,588

Typical debt at graduation

$22,500

36% of students get a Pell Grant

Free stuff most students miss

Academics & admin

Tutoring and Reading Center

Free tutoring hub in Henry Hall 112 - appointments, drop-in centres and course-embedded support.

Getting around

Laker Line (Route 50)

Free bus route connecting Allendale and Pew Grand Rapids campuses, running every 6 minutes

Health & safety

Free condoms, Plan B and Opill

Free condoms, emergency contraception and over-the-counter birth control from the Center for Health and Well-being.

Housing

Student Legal Services

Free legal advice for GVSU students on landlord-tenant matters, such as a question about your lease or a problem with an off-campus landlord.

Eat

Dining halls, quick bites and coffee on campus.

26 places

Fresh Food Company

Dining hall

All-you-care-to-eat dining in the Commons (upper level) on north campus: comfort food, global and sustainable dishes, fresh fruit and vegetables…

The Dish at Kleiner

Dining hall

All-you-care-to-eat dining hall in Kleiner Commons on south campus.

11015 Residence Dr

Ciao

Restaurant

Build-your-own pasta, Kirkhof Fusion food court.

Kirkhof Center (Fusion food court), 10670 South Campus Dr

Einstein Bros. Bagels - Valley Campus

Cafe

Bagels and coffee at Holton-Hooker, weekdays 8 to 2.

Holton-Hooker Learning and Living Center, 10880 Residence Dr

Erbert & Gerbert's - City Campus

Restaurant

Sandwiches and soups, DeVos Center downtown.

DeVos Center, 401 Fulton St W

Laker Grill

Restaurant

Burgers and fries, Kirkhof Fusion food court.

Kirkhof Center (Fusion food court), 10670 South Campus Dr

Where to live

Residence halls, apartments and help finding a place.

14 places

North Living Centers

Residence hall

First-year residence halls in the north area of Allendale Campus

Holton-Hooker Learning & Living Center

Residence hall

Cluster-style co-ed living center for first-year students with community bathrooms

10880 Residence Dr.

Kistler Living Center

Residence hall

Traditional-style co-ed living center for first-year students near Kleiner Commons and Mackinac Hall

Allendale Campus

DeVos Living Center

Residence hall

Suite-style living center for first-year students with two per room, four per suite sharing a bathroom

Allendale Campus

Calder Residence

Residence hall

Art-focused residence hall on Allendale Campus

Hills Living Center

Residence hall

Suite-style residence hall on Allendale Campus

Get around

Shuttles, parking and accessible rides.

6 ways

Laker Line (Route 50)

Transit

Free bus route connecting Allendale and Pew Grand Rapids campuses, running every 6 minutes

Kirkhof Center stop, Allendale Campus

Transit

Campus Apartment Shuttles

Transit

Free shuttle routes serving off-campus apartments near Allendale Campus including Routes 37, 48, and 85

Kirkhof Center Bus Stop, 1 Campus Drive

Parking

Laker Line Park & Ride

Parking

Free 121-space park-and-ride lot at Lake Michigan Drive for catching the Laker Line BRT

4211 Lake Michigan Drive

Biking

Bicycle Program & Maintenance

Biking

Free bike maintenance, self-service repair stations, bike registration, and trail access info

1 Campus Drive, B-170 Rec Center

GVSU Parking Services

Parking

Permits, citations, appeals and visitor parking for every GVSU campus.

11106 Service Drive

GVSU Transportation Services

Transit

Manages all campus bus routes, shuttles, and transportation between campuses

Allendale Campus

Majors that pay most at Grand Valley

Typical pay 4 years after graduating. Top 6 of 62 bachelor's majors with published pay.

Computer Engineering $103,253

Electrical Engineering $100,456

Manufacturing Engineering $95,416

Computer Science $94,330

Mechanical Engineering $90,565

Information Science/Studies $81,420

Source: College Scorecard, field-of-study data.

Your Grand Valley checklist

5 things worth doing early

Save campus police in your phone (616) 331-3255, 24/7.
Get a parking permit or skip it and ride the free bus.
Visit Career Center - Pew Campus (Grand Rapids) early, not the week of the career fair.
File next year's FAFSA Opens October 1. Questions: (616) 331-3234.
Know where counseling is University Counseling Center - City Campus.

When you need help

Department of Public Safety (616) 331-3255 University Counseling Center - City Campus (616) 331-3266 Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships (616) 331-3234 Dean of Students Office (616) 331-3585

5 things Grand Valley freshmen figure out too late

Watch the video

1 A bad grade gets replaced — and so does a good one
You can repeat any course once, and Grand Valley counts only the LAST grade toward your GPA. Most people hear the first half of that and stop listening. The policy says it plainly: only the last grade counts "whether or not the last grade is higher". Retake a C and get a D, and the D is now the grade in your GPA. Every attempt still shows on your official transcript — replacing a grade changes the GPA calculation, not your record. Grades of I, W, AU, CR and NC do not replace an earlier grade at all. Repeating a course more than once needs your advisor's approval. And before you lean on this: graduate and professional programs routinely recalculate your GPA with every attempt included, which can pull it back down at exactly the moment it matters.
CLAS Advising — the course repeat policy Catalog — academic policies and regulations
2 Every Rapid bus in Grand Rapids is free, not just the Laker Line
Transportation Services puts it in one sentence: "All Grand Valley and Rapid routes are free to ride with your valid student or faculty/staff ID card." Almost everyone works out that the Laker Line and the campus shuttles are free. The part people miss for a year is the word Rapid — that is the whole Grand Rapids bus network, so getting to a job, an apartment showing, the airport bus or downtown on a Saturday costs you nothing but the time. The Laker Line (Route LL) itself runs Allendale to the Grand Rapids campuses Monday through Friday; it replaced the old Route 50 in August 2020 with articulated buses, wifi and level boarding.
GVSU Transportation — the bus system Laker Line (Route LL) schedule The Rapid — college and university programs
3 You get $25 of printing every semester, and it expires
Every student starts each semester with $25 of free printing already on the account. At $0.05 a single-sided page that is about 500 pages — roughly 250 sheets if you print double-sided, which is charged at $0.10. The catch is in IT's own wording: free print pages expire at the end of each semester. They do not roll over, and nobody sends you a reminder in week 14. Pages you BUY behave differently — purchased print credit stays with your account and does not expire. So if you are going to top up, there is no reason to rush it.
IT — print limit rules and policies University Libraries — printing, scanning, copying
4 Free groceries, and nobody asks you to prove anything
Replenish is Grand Valley's basic needs center. Every enrolled student is eligible, there are no income guidelines and no requirements — you show a current GVSU ID or your G-number and that is the whole process. It stocks shelf-stable and perishable food, frozen items, personal care products and household goods, and it runs the university's laptop loan program. There is also Laker Meal Share for meal assistance. Two locations: the lower level of the Kirkhof Center on the Allendale campus, and the third floor of the Center for Health Professions on the Grand Rapids campus. The thing that keeps people away is the assumption that a pantry is means-tested and they would be taking someone else's spot. At Replenish that assumption is simply wrong.
About Replenish Basic Needs Center Basic Needs at GVSU GVSU — 10 things every new Laker must know
5 Record the lecture. Gus writes it down.
This is the part students actually use most: hit record at the start of class and Gus gives you back a timestamped transcript, a summary, and the key topics the lecture covered — so "what did he say about that" stops being a guess. The transcript is where it starts, not where it ends: from that same lecture you can generate flashcards, a practice quiz, or a podcast to listen to on the Laker Line. It works on a phone in your pocket, and it keeps working if the lecture runs long.
Try Gus free

One more thing

The one we cut: the Knowledge Market

Free one-on-one help from trained student consultants, in one place in the library — research, writing, speech and presentation, data, and subject tutoring. It is included in what you already pay and you can book online. We left it out of the video only because three of the five tips were already "you have paid for this".

University Libraries — the Knowledge Market

Also worth knowing

The University Counseling Center offers personal counselling, online screenings, emergency services and groups at both the Allendale and Grand Rapids campuses. If something non-academic is going wrong, a CARE referral is the way to get a person assigned to helping you rather than trying to find the right office yourself. Neither belongs in a six-second caption, which is why they are here instead.

University Counseling Center Basic Needs — food and support directory