The purpose of the Graduate School at Albany State University is to define and promote excellence in graduate education and the research and scholarly activities associated with it.  In conjunction with the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Sciences and Health Professions; the Graduate School establishes a high standard of intellectual excellence and ensures the application of that standard in discussions, deliberations and decisions about faculty, students, curriculum and research direction.  The Graduate School is centered on academic issues and enhancing scholastic excellence in the recruitment, admission and matriculation of graduate students.

The Graduate School brings an institution-wide perspective to all post-baccalaureate endeavors.  It establishes, through its faculty, a set of policies that define excellence in graduate programs, high quality in curriculum, exceptional student selection, and rigor in faculty appointments.  It defines the minimum standards acceptable for all post-baccalaureate work and ensures the observance of both the campus-wide and program-specific standards articulated and approved by the graduate faculty.

Quality graduate programs result only from quality faculty.  Thus, the Graduate School ensures sufficient number of full-time, permanent faculty members who are active in scholarship, research and highly effective in creating technology-based classroom environments in which maximum learning occurs.  These faculty members must be committed to promoting life-long learning, dedicated to quality scholarship and to intellectual enhancement of their graduate programs and of their students.  Building a student-centered pluralistic learning community is a top priority of the Graduate School.