Warner Robins, Ga. – Governor Brian P. Kemp has announced that the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) approved grants totaling $6 million in bond funds to establish two new College and Career Academies (CCA) in the middle Georgia area. Both new academies will partner with Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) to offer career readiness training to high school students to support a qualified and greater workforce pipeline. Grant recipients are the Dooly County School System and Monroe County Schools.
“These new academies will open doors for hardworking Georgians to pursue new opportunities and grow their skillset so that they find success in the number one state for business,” said Governor Kemp. “As we continue to see unprecedented levels of job creation and investment in the Peach State, we know we need to expand our workforce to sustain our position as the best place to live, work, and raise a family. Innovative approaches like these academies will help us do that.”
Central Georgia Technical College serves eleven counties in middle Georgia and already partners with College and Career Academies in Baldwin, Bibb, Houston, Jones, and Putnam counties. Today’s announcement solidifies CGTC as the leading CCA partner in Georgia by serving seven CCAs, more than any other technical college.
In the last academic year, CGTC led the state in career academy enrollment among technical colleges with 1,121 enrollees across the five established college and career academies. In the same period, CGTC also had the most unduplicated dual enrollment graduates across the system with 1,110 students receiving 1,505 total awards. This included 105 associate degree graduates. For the current fall term, CGTC has enrolled 1,133 students in career academy programming, surpassing the AY22 total number.
“Since establishing our first CCA partnership in Houston County, we have strongly supported this education model and our local school systems as they pursued the grant opportunity provided by Governor Kemp and TCSG,” said Dr. Ivan Allen, president of CGTC. “We know the value of a career academy and how beneficial they are in educating students for the careers available in our local communities. This model also provides strong ties to industry supporters and improves opportunities for both employers and job-seekers alike. We are proud to partner with both Dooly and Monroe counties for two new career academies and we are especially appreciative of Gov. Kemp, the Georgia General Assembly, and Commissioner Dozier for entrusting CGTC with this opportunity once again.”
TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier will award the two partnerships with grant funds to establish the new College and Career Academies in the selected counties. Both grant recipients will receive $3 million each via a cumulative bond amount of $6 million. Additionally, the school systems will receive a cash investment of $100,000 each. Monroe County will use grant funds to establish the MPower College and Career Academy, and Dooly County Schools will create the Dooly College and Career Academy, both in partnership with CGTC.
“College and Career Academies play an important role in ensuring business and industry have a pipeline of skilled talent here in Georgia,” said TCSG Commissioner Greg Dozier. “When we provide high school students more learning opportunities that connect the classroom to the workplace, we are opening doors to meaningful careers for students while filling a workforce need in the community. It’s a win-win.”
Students enrolled in CCA programming are dual enrolled in occupational program majors that lead to employment with business and industry partners in the local area. The students learn via TCSG curriculum standards and are taught by CGTC instructors. Once students complete the course, they earn credit for high school and college credit to use toward a diploma or a degree at CGTC. Students who enroll in career academy programs typically earn at least two technical certificates of credit in their chosen program, but it is possible for students to graduate high school with either a technical diploma or an associate’s degree. Students as young as the 10th grade can receive up to 30 hours of dual enrollment funding to enroll in occupational programs at a CCA to earn college credit.
College and Career Academies across Georgia represent a community partnership between the local school system, a technical college, and local business or industry to facilitate teaching students the skills necessary for career success and ensure fulfillment of the workforce development mission in each community. Georgia’s College and Career Academies have more than 3,000 business partners across the state and serve more than 45,000 students. The addition of these two facilities will bring the total number of College and Career Academies in Georgia to 57.
To learn more about Georgia’s College and Career Academies, visit www.tcsg.edu/gcca. To learn more about Central Georgia Technical College’s dual enrollment opportunities with local College and Career Academies, visit www.centralgatech.edu/highschool.
About CGTC:Central Georgia Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, offers credit instruction, adult education, and customized business and industry training through traditional and distance education delivery designed to promote community and workforce development. The College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate degrees and many programs hold industry-specific accreditations, licensure, and approvals from various state and national agencies. Campuses are located in Warner Robins, Macon, and Milledgeville, with six educational centers throughout the region, including the GA VECTR Center in Warner Robins. As one of the largest two-year colleges in the state, CGTC leads Georgia’s technical colleges in graduates and awards conferred.
About the Technical College System of Georgia
The 22 colleges of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) are Georgia’s top resource for skilled workers. TCSG offers world-class training in more than 600 associate degree, diploma and certificate programs to students who are trained on state-of-the-art equipment by instructors who are experts in their fields. The system also houses Georgia’s Office of Adult Education, which promotes and provides adult literacy and education programs, including the GED® testing program, throughout the state. In addition, TCSG partners with companies through Quick Start, the nation’s top customized workforce training program, and through its individual colleges, who work with local industry to provide workforce and training solutions. For more information, visit TCSG.edu.