DECA graduates gather for a keepsake group photo. Of the 87 graduates in 2015, a record 30 students also earned their associate degrees from GPC. (Photo by Leita Cowart)

by Kysa Anderson Daniels

The DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA) graduated its sixth and largest class in May. DECA, a joint venture between Georgia Perimeter College and the DeKalb County School District, is one of only 10 such programs across Georgia.

“We had 87 graduates in the class of 2015,” says program coordinator Kathryn Hall. “Thirty of those students, a record number, also earned their associate degrees.”

DECA enables college-ready high school students from underrepresented groups to spend their first two years of high school at the academy in Stone Mountain and their final two at Georgia Perimeter’s Clarkston Campus. Academy students earn high school and college credits simultaneously through dual enrollment, now called Move on When Ready. The program allows them to graduate from high school and earn a college associate degree at the same time.

DECA has graduated more than 245 students over its nine-year history, with 96 of those simultaneously receiving their high school diploma and an associate degree from Georgia Perimeter. This year’s grads earned a collective 3,933 college credits.