The University of Georgia and Georgia Perimeter College are partnering to help students complete degrees. A ceremony recognizing the official partnership was held Sept. 17 on the University of Georgia Griffin campus. 

Institutions across the state are collaborating to increase the number of young adults with a certificate or degree, while maintaining a commitment to quality. Three areas of primary focus include partnerships and accountability, performance and college readiness and access.

“Our goal is to minimize the barriers and provide a clear path to complete a college degree. This partnership between Georgia Perimeter College and the University of Georgia is a commitment from both institutions to increase the number of college graduates in order to make degree attainment possible for more students in this region of the state,” said Laura Jolly, UGA’s vice president for instruction.

“Georgia Perimeter College is extremely pleased to have entered into a transfer articulation agreement with the University of Georgia,” said Rob Watts, GPC’s interim president. “This agreement will allow GPC students who earn their associate degrees to move seamlessly to UGA-Griffin as juniors and pursue a UGA bachelor’s degree. It is another example of the state’s flagship university reaching out to a University System of Georgia partner—GPC—to ensure that students have access to the bachelor’s degree needed for their careers and for the continued economic development of Georgia.”

The event included a welcome from Doris Christopher, assistant vice president for academic affairs and director of academic programs at the UGA-Griffin campus, as well as remarks by Jolly, Watts and Board of Regents member Tommy Hopkins (Griffin), who has been heavily involved in the transfer articulation agreement process between the two institutions. City and county officials also were on hand to show support for the partnership of the two institutions.

This agreement is aligned with the Complete College Georgia initiative that launched in 2012 under the direction of Gov. Nathan Deal, the University System of Georgia and the Technical College System of Georgia. Georgia’s Higher Education Completion Plan addresses a critical need for young adults to complete a college degree to remain competitive in Georgia’s work force. 

Advisers at UGA-Griffin and GPC who specialize in transfer information for the preferred UGA program will work with students to follow a course of study that allows them to begin upper-level coursework immediately upon transfer. Students who meet the terms of their approved transfer agreement will be admitted to UGA.

UGA-Griffin is a degree completion campus that allows students who have completed their core curriculum at another institution to complete their academic program at UGA-Griffin and earn a UGA degree. Students may receive their undergraduate degree in one of eight undergraduate degree programs offered on the UGA-Griffin campus.