Perimeter College at Georgia State University is a college of

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. Georgia Perimeter College was originally a public community college founded by an Atlanta area county board of education before merging with Georgia State University in 2016 to create one of the largest universities in the United States with over 50,000 students. The Perimeter College (PC) campuses became components of Georgia State University, still maintaining their own mission, degrees, and admittance requirements, separate from those of the main campus. Before merging with GSU, PC served metro Atlanta with five campus locations and offered more than 40 programs of study, including Arts, Music, Theatre, Nursing, Business Administration, Education, Dental Hygiene, Criminal Justice, and Sign Language Interpreting.

History

Perimeter College was founded by the DeKalb County Board of Education as DeKalb College in 1958 and offered its first classes in Clarkston, Georgia, in 1964. Its service area grew as new campuses opened and students came to the college from throughout the metro area. In 1997, DeKalb College was renamed Georgia Perimeter College. It was called Georgia Perimeter College, as a two-year

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

-granting unit of the

University System of Georgia The University System of Georgia (USG) is the government agency that includes 26 public institutions of higher learning in the U.S. state of Georgia. The system is governed by the Georgia Board of Regents. It sets goals and dictates general ...

until January 6, 2016.

Campuses

Georgia Perimeter College - Clarkston Campus

* Three in

DeKalb County DeKalb County may refer to one of several counties in the United States, all of which were named for Baron Johan DeKalb: * DeKalb County, Alabama * DeKalb County, Georgia * DeKalb County, Illinois * DeKalb County, Indiana * DeKalb County, Missouri ...

: ** Clarkston Campus (formerly known as "Central Campus"), in an unincorporated area south of Clarkston, is the original campus. ** Decatur Campus (formerly known as "South Campus"), in an unincorporated area south of Decatur. ** Dunwoody Campus (formerly known as "North Campus"), in

Dunwoody Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to ...

Home to an observatory that is available for public use. * Newton County: Newton Campus, in an unincorporated area, south of I-20 and east of Covington. *

Fulton County Fulton County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. Most are named for Robert Fulton, inventor of the first practical steamboat: *Fulton County, Arkansas, named after Governor William Savin Fulton *Fulton County, Georgia *F ...

: Alpharetta Center, in

Alpharetta Alpharetta is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia, United States, and is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2020 US Census, Alpharetta's population was 65,818 The population in 2010 was 57,551. History In the 1830s, the Ch ...

in north Fulton County. The Perimeter College Botanical Gardens include a Native Plant Garden and the Ferns of the World Garden, which contains more species of ferns than any other garden in the United States. Discussions about plants, garden walks and special sales are open to the public.

Academic profile

Perimeter College was the largest

two-year college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

and the fourth-largest institution in the

, with about 21,371 students enrolled. PC's online program was the largest in the state university system, serving over 9,000 students. Perimeter College transferred almost 3,000 students annually to bachelor's degree programs within the

, accounting for one-fifth of transfers within the system. To allow students to transfer to four-year institutions of their choice, Perimeter pioneered a

Transfer Admission Guarantee A Transfer Admission Guarantee (also known as a TAG agreement) is a program that offers students from a community college guaranteed admissions to several colleges and universities. The writing of a TAG contract enables qualified students to be guar ...

(TAG) program, signing more than 40 TAG agreements with in-state, out-of-state, public and private four-year colleges and universities. More than one-third of Perimeter College's faculty members earned their doctorate; this statistic did not include numerous part-time instructors. PC had more Governor's Teaching Fellows than any other institution in Georgia: 40 since 1996. More than 46 PC faculty members received National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Teaching Excellence Awards since 2003. The 3-year graduation rate was 7% before amalgamation with Georgia State University

Military outreach

Perimeter College's Military Outreach program served one of the largest military and veteran populations in the State, with over 1,100 military-affiliated students attending PC each semester. Designated year after year as a Military Friendly and Best-For-Vets institution, PC's Military Outreach program had been recognized as a model in the State and across the Nation. The Military Outreach Center provided all the services, support and assistance student veterans need to reach their academic goals. PC had Military Outreach Centers located on all five campuses and provide personalized assistance to its many Online student veterans, offering everything from academic and financial aid counseling, to scholarships and emergency grants for military/veteran students and their families. PC honored its student veterans by Serving Those Who Have Served.

Student life

Perimeter College's Fine Arts program presented plays, art exhibits and musical performances that were open to the public. The 2009–2010 season included more than 100 events. The college was also home to the DeKalb Symphony Orchestra and the Southern Academy for Literary Arts & Scholarly Research, which celebrated literature and scholarship and hosts an assortment of visiting writers who engage students, faculty, and staff. The ''

Chattahoochee Review ''The Chattahoochee Review'' is a literary journal published by Georgia State University's Perimeter College. It is widely regarded as one of the leading voices in Southern fiction and was established in 1981. The journal contains fiction, poetry ...

'' was the nationally recognized literary magazine published by the college. Teresa Weaver of ''Atlanta Magazine'' described it as a "fine literary journal". It received attention as a journal of

Southern literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...

, featuring such writers as James Dickey, but expanded its scope to include international works. In early 2010, Perimeter College opened the Atlanta Center for Civic Engagement & Service Learning on its Clarkston Campus. The center worked to enhance student learning by providing opportunities for students to apply what they learn into the classroom to real-life situations. Through such activities, they worked to enhance the economic, social and cultural vitality of PC's communities, while offering students, faculty, educators and community members the training, tools and support they needed to get engaged and make a difference.

Media

The Collegian was the student newspaper of Perimeter College. The paper was published to over 11,000 people all over the metro Atlanta area. The Collegian covered all five campuses in the areas of Campus News, Campus Life, Academics, Administration, Features and Opinions.

Sport

The college athletics teams were nicknamed the Jaguars.

Notable people

Ron Blomberg Ronald Mark Blomberg (born August 23, 1948), nicknamed "Boomer", is an American former professional baseball player and minor league manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a designated hitter, first baseman, and right fielder. He played f ...

(born 1948),

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

player *

Marlon Byrd Marlon Jerrard Byrd (born August 30, 1977) is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, New Yo ...

, Major League Baseball player *

Shad Gaspard Shad Javier Gaspard (January 13, 1981 – May 17, 2020) was an American professional wrestler and actor. He was best known for his time with WWE, where he performed under his real name, or mononymously as Shad. Gaspard signed with World Wrestli ...

, professional wrestler and actor * Nick Green, Major League Baseball player *

Eban Hyams Eban Hyams has played professionally in the Australian National Basketball League (NBL) and that country's Waratah League, part of the second division Australian Basketball Association (ABA). He is the first ever player of Indian origin to pla ...

(born 1981), Indian-born Australian professional basketball player *

Gucci Mane Radric Delantic Davis (born February 12, 1980), known professionally as Gucci Mane, is an American rapper and record executive. He helped pioneer the hip hop subgenre of trap music alongside fellow Atlanta-based rappers T.I. and Young Jeezy, ...

, rapper, attended on a HOPE scholarship from 2000 to 2001. *

Janelle Monáe Janelle Monáe Robinson (; born December 1, 1985) is an American singer, rapper and actress. She is signed to Atlantic Records, as well as to her own imprint, the Wondaland Arts Society. Monáe has received eight Grammy Award nominations. Mon� ...

, vocalist, performer *

Howard Mosby Howard Mosby (born June 20, 1961) is an American politician from Georgia. Mosby is a former member of the Georgia House of Representatives for District 90. Early life and education Mosby was born in Atlanta to Gwendolyn Mizell Mosby, a retired Bu ...

, Member of the Georgia House of Representatives

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord missing, Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Fulton County, Georgia Buildings and structures in Newton County, Georgia Education in Fulton County, Georgia Education in Newton County, Georgia Educational institutions established in 1958 Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Universities and colleges in DeKalb County, Georgia Public universities and colleges in Georgia (U.S. state) NJCAA athletics 1958 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)