More than 130 students are majoring in physics at North Georgia College & State University this year.

The department has graduated at least 10 physics majors a year for the past several years, a graduation rate that is more than five times the national average according to a news release.

In fact, the graduation rate is second highest in the state, only behind Georgia Tech.

"Really that says to me we have an incredible program for a small school," said senior physics major T.J. Godfrey, 22. "To me, I think the programs are equally effective providing the skills you need. It shows we have a staff that knows what they're talking about."

Godfrey wants to use his degree and go one of two routes, either to law school to study intellectual property law or to graduate school and eventually teach physics, possibly back at North Georgia.

"We've had really phenomenal growth," physics professor and department head Richard Prior said. "This year we'll have about two times as many graduates as we had when I came here in 1994. ... We don't do a lot of outside recruiting for the program, but we are increasing in number every semester it seems like."

Back then, Prior said most of the classes were very small. This year, however, he has a senior lab class with 22 students.

Senior physics major Nick Mayhew, 21, applied to both Georgia Tech and North Georgia.

"I visited them the same exact day. At Tech, I was a little overwhelmed by all the people. I feel like I've had just as much access to information as Tech," he said.

Toni Roth, 21, also a senior physics major, wants to go into medical physics graduate programs.

"It's been quite a journey. It's analytical and it's everything I wanted out of a major," she said. "We're known here to have a very strong physics department. It's regarded as being impressive."

Prior said the department tries to involve students in as much as possible - research, working in the George E. Coleman Sr. Planetarium and the North Georgia Astronomical Observatory and helping to teach underclassmen, for example.

"I think the fact it's a small program, where you're not bombarded with people, you have a lot more interaction with students. ... That's something that really attracted me to the program," Godfrey said.

The department offers bachelor's degrees in physics and physics with a secondary education teacher certification, a dual degree in physics and engineering with Georgia Tech and a minor in physics.