NORTH GREENVILLE UNIVERSITY

Affiliated with and committed to the South Carolina Baptist Convention, North Greenville University is a co-educational liberal arts institution that provides opportunities for higher education in a Christian atmosphere. The university strives to prepare students to become better, contributing members of society by educating the whole person by integrating academic discipline, a Christian lifestyle, and an enriched cultural experience while offering students the best opportunities for spiritual growth, academic training, and Christian service.

NGU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award baccalaureate, master's, educational specialist, and doctorate degrees. NGU also offers credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels.

The university’s President and CEO is Dr. Gene C. Fant, Jr., who was elected by NGU trustees as the institution’s eighth president in February 2017, and began service as president on June 1, 2017. The institution’s Senior Leadership Council includes the Provost and Dean of Faculty, Executive Vice President (COO), and Senior Vice President for Finance (CFO).

The institution was started as North Greenville Baptist Academy in 1892 by an association of local churches as a grade school for rural students in northern Greenville County, South Carolina, at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The school added two-year college degrees in the early 1930s, and became a four-year college in 1994, gaining university status in 2006.

NGU’s Board of Trustees includes 25 members, with five trustees elected to five-year terms each November by messengers to the South Carolina Baptist Convention Annual Meeting.

Today, NGU offers degree and certificate programs through campuses in Tigerville and Greer, South Carolina, and Pine Mountain, Georgia. NGU's fall 2024 total enrollment was 2,305 students, representing 40 states and 17 countries. A total of 1,633 students were pursuing traditional baccalaureate degrees on the Tigerville campus. The institution has 107 full-time faculty members and a student/faculty ratio of 12:1.

NGU has six academic colleges: College of Humanities and Science, College of Business and Entrepreneurship, College of Education, College of Communication and Fine Arts, College of Christian Studies, and College of Allied Health. The university offers more than 125 fields of study.

NGU Trailblazers compete in 20 NCAA Division II sports. With 70 percent of traditional undergraduate students living in campus housing, the university seeks to offer a vibrant learning community. Students engage in local service projects, as well as regional, national and international service and ministry experiences each year.

In its 2025 “America’s Best Colleges” rankings, U.S. News & World Report listed NGU as 16th of 132 institutions in the Social Mobility category, which analyzes schools who enroll and graduate large proportions of students who are awarded Pell Grants. North Greenville enrolled 697 Pell Grant recipients during the 2023-24 school year and 810 recipients for 2024-25. The university currently has a Pell Grant graduation rate of 72 percent. With a founding designed to provide educational opportunity for underserved local children, NGU seeks to assist first-generation college students through its Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). The QEP aims to provide knowledge of university resources and connect first-generation students with a support system that will help students complete their degrees.

U.S. News & World Report also recognized NGU as a Best Value School (Regional Universities in the South) and one of the Best Colleges for Veterans (Regional Universities in the South). NGU placed 36th and 34th respectively in these categories.

NGU is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.