One year ago, Georgia Tech President Ángel Cabrera revealed the four ambitious “big bets” that would provide the framework for Tech’s refreshed strategic plan.  

During his 2025 Institute Address in the Walter G. Ehmer Theater, the president revealed that record enrollment, campaign fundraising, and research expenditures have positioned Georgia Tech ahead of schedule on the plan that runs through 2030. 

The Four Big Bets 

• Be a national leader in outcomes and value for all students.  

• Double the annual number of degrees granted and non-degree learners.   

• Double the scale and amplify the impact of our research enterprise.  

• Build a national hub for innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship in our city and around our campus. 

Leading Value 

• The Institute is ranked No. 1 in value among public colleges by the Princeton Review.
• Tech is the No. 1 public university for ROI 15, 20, and 30 years after graduation.  

Calculating value takes into account the cost and time required to complete a degree. While in-state tuition has risen nationwide by an average of $2,200 since 2019, Georgia Tech has reduced its in-state tuition and fees by nearly 25% over the same period. Tech students continue to outpace the nation with a 93% graduation rate, 75% of whom finish in four years or less.  

Striving to make a Georgia Tech education affordable to all is a key pillar of the strategic plan and the Transforming Tomorrow campaign. To create opportunities for students of all socioeconomic backgrounds, Tech had its most successful fundraising year in history, including the creation of a $100 million endowment for need-based scholarships.   

The Institute's value to the state was reflected in a recent study published by the University System of Georgia, highlighting its $5.8 billion economic impact last year.   

Record High Enrollment 

• Goal: Confer 15,000 degrees by 2030
• 2024-25 academic year: 13,000 conferred   

Despite a nationwide decline in high school graduates and students attending college, the Institute continued to grow and made significant strides toward doubling the number of degrees conferred.  

Georgia Tech is now the largest university in the state, largely due to its online master’s programs enrolling 26,000 students. Undergraduate admission applicants reached a record high of 67,000 this year, and the class of 4,075 first-year students is the largest in the Institute's history, alongside 1,000 transfer students.  

Research With Reach 

• Goal: $1.67 billion in research expenditures by 2030
• Fiscal year 2025: $1.43 billion – 7% increase from FY2024  

Research funding was put under a microscope in 2025, yet the president said that Tech remains on track to reach its 2030 goal.  

“All this support is allowing us to advance areas of science and technology that are critical for our nation,” Cabrera said. "Think AI, space exploration, cybersecurity, and advanced defense systems. Surgical devices, new drugs and drug delivery systems, and technologies to assist people with brain injuries or disease. Whatever comes to mind when you think of human beings living better lives, chances are Georgia Tech researchers are working on and making contributions in that space.” 

Space to Innovate 

To keep pace with increasing enrollment and research expenditures, the Institute is addressing housing and creating new lab and creative spaces on campus.  

• George and Scheller Towers: Set to open in 2026, the towers will provide 416,500 square feet of classroom, lab, and retail space in Tech Square.  

• The Biltmore Transformation: A hub for the city’s entrepreneurs to collaborate on the Tech campus. 

• Creative Quarter: Tech’s latest planned innovation district, where new technologies for producing art will be developed and shared. 

• Curran Street Residence Hall: 860 additional beds for first-year students.  

Helping Atlanta toward its goal of becoming a top technology hub, Georgia Tech accounted for a record 143 startups, 464 invention disclosures, and 124 patents granted in the past fiscal year. 

The Road Ahead 

“These results were neither inevitable nor easy. We weren’t propelled by favorable winds; rather, in many cases, we sailed upwind and against the currents,” Cabrera said. “What is happening at Georgia Tech is not a case of a rising tide lifting all boats. We are beating the odds. This is the result of the hard work and determination of an extraordinary academic community committed to making a bigger difference, no matter the trends, the market forces, or the political context we face.” 

During the address, Cabrera also announced the largest individual gift in Georgia Tech’s history. A $100 million bequest from the late John W. Durstine, a 1957 Tech graduate in mechanical engineering, will establish endowed chairs, professorships, and faculty awards in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.