Profile: Georgia Perimeter College

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With 25,113 students, Georgia Perimeter College is the third-largest school in the University System of Georgia and accepts more undergraduate students than any other college in the state. Spread over four separate campuses in Clarkston, Decatur, Dunwoody, and Newton, GPC offers geographic flexibility and guides students through one of three tracks: transfer, career, or joint programs. Since it is a junior college, SAT scores are not required for admittance. Flexible course schedules accommodate adult learners.

While programs vary slightly from campus to campus, the school overall offers forty associate’s degrees, four career and technical degrees, and nine dual-degree programs with DeKalb Technical College. Associate’s degrees range from journalism, political science, and biology to more career-specific tracks such as homeland security and emergency management or pre-dentistry/pre-medicine/pre-pharmacy. Vocational programs include fire management, sign language interpretation, nursing, and dental hygiene.

GPC also hosts the largest online program in the state, and new for this spring is the first three-year accelerated bachelor’s of business administration degree in Georgia, provided in partnership with Georgia Southwestern State University. Structured as either a combination of in-class and online courses or fully online, the degree offers concentrations in management and accounting.

Through a Transfer Admission Guarantee, students who maintain a minimum GPA (anywhere from a 2.0 to 3.0) while completing core courses or an associate’s degree are guaranteed transfers to more than forty four-year colleges. These schools are some of the largest and highest-ranked in the state, including UGA, Georgia Tech, and Mercer; there are even out-of-state options such as Syracuse and Auburn University. Students in GPC’s honors program can transfer to participating four-year college honors programs.

While there are no Greek organizations and no student housing, the school offers a variety of ways to get a “traditional” school experience. Dozens of student organizations are available, as are volunteer opportunities. Sports teams include baseball, softball, basketball, and tennis, and both the men’s and women’s soccer teams are ranked nationally—second and third, respectively.

Photograph courtesy of Georgia Perimeter College

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