State of Georgia - History of Higher Education
A Time Chart
Submitted By:
Salazec D. Spratling
EDLD 7432 History of American Higher Education
Dr. Barry Dotson
July 7, 2014
1783
Augusta State University was founded (Augusta, GA.) as the Academy of
Richmond County (high-school).
1784
The Georgia Assembly set aside 40,000 acres from which they planned to
earn the money they would need to incorporate the University of Georgia.
1785
The Georgia General Assembly incorporates the University of Georgia, the
first state to charter a state-supported university.
Augusta State University started to offer college courses.
1801
The University of Georgia was actually established.
1804
The University of Georgia graduated its first class.
1828
Medical College of Georgia was founded as the Medical Academy of
Georgia by the Medical Society of Augusta.
1835
Oglethorpe University was chartered and officially commenced operations
in 1838 at Midway, a small community near Milledgeville which was at
that time, the capital of Georgia.
1836
The Georgia Assembly granted the Georgia Methodist Conference a charter
to form Emory College (Emory University).
1854
Atlanta Medical College is officially rename Emory University School of
Medicine.
1859
The University of Georgia School of Law was founded.
1862
Morrill Act of 1862 established new public institutions in each state
through the grant of federal lands.
1863
During the Civil War, the University of Georgia closed in October 1863
and reopened in January 1866. In that same year, the legislature
appropriated $2,000 for the creation of a College of Agriculture and
Mechanic Arts.
1867
Morehouse College was founded – (Atlanta, GA.) School began as Augusta
Theological Institute and was established in the basement of Springfield
Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia a church that was founded in 1787
making it the oldest independent African American church in the United
States.
1871
Plans for Georgia Military College began when Georgia received $243,000
from the federal government, its share of funds from the Morrill Act of
1862.
1879
Georgia Military College chartered (Milledgeville, GA.).
1881
Spelman College was established, originally named the Atlanta Baptist
Female Seminary (Atlanta, GA.).
1882
Paine College established (Augusta, GA.).
Augusta Theological Institute which is now Morehouse College was
established.
1884
Middle Georgia College – Established by the New Ebenezer Baptist
Association. (Cochran, GA.).
Reinhardt College opened its doors for classes (Waleska, GA.).
1885
Georgia School of Technology (Georgia Tech) established - Atlanta, GA.
1886
Young Harris College established (Young Harris, GA.).
1887
The Hatch Act authorized direct payment of federal grant funds to each
state to establish an agricultural experiment station in connection with the
land-grant institution.
1889
Agnes Scott College was established (Decatur, GA.) Originally named the
Decatur Female Seminary.
1890
The Morrill Act of 1890 established Black land-grant universities, 28 years
after passage of the first Morrill Act laid the foundation for the nation’s
public university system.
Savannah State University established (Savannah, GA.).
1902
Berry College was established (Rome, GA.) Berry College boasts some
27,000 acres and claims to have the largest contiguous campus in the
world.
1903
Fort Valley State University established (Fort Valley, GA.) The state of
Georgia’s only 1890 land-grant school.
Albany State University established (Albany, GA.).
1906
First District Agricultural and Mechanical School (Georgia Southern
University) established as a land grant college (Statesboro, GA.).
.
Valdosta State University established (Valdosta, GA.).
1913
Georgia State University founded as a night school for the Georgia School
of Technology (Atlanta, GA.).
1914
The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 created a Cooperative Extension Service
associated with each land-grant institution.
1915
After undergoing a host of mergers, the Atlanta Medical College was
renamed, Emory University School of Medicine.
1917
Federal legislation provided funds to support vocational education in
agriculture. The Smith-Hughes Act was cosponsored by Hoke Smith, U.S.
senator and future Georgia Governor.
1924
First District Agricultural and Mechanical School (Georgia Southern
University) named changed to Georgia Normal School.
1931
The University System of Georgia was created with the passage of the
Reorganization Act of 1931 by the Georgia General Assembly.
General Assembly of Georgia placed all state-supported institutions of
higher education, including UGA, under the jurisdiction of a single
board - University System of Georgia, governed by a board of regents.
1946
The University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine was founded.
1948
Martin Luther King Jr. graduates from Morehouse College with Bachelor
Arts degree in sociology.
Georgia School of Technology changed its name to Georgia Institute of
Technology.
1958
Augusta State became a part of the University System of Georgia and its
name was formally changed to Augusta College. It remained a two-year
college until 1963, when it attained four-year status. A second campus was
added on Wrightsboro Road, which now houses athletics, kinesiology and
health science.
1962
Mary Frances Early (August 16, 1962), first African-American to graduate
from the University of Georgia.
1963
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents, voted unanimously to
place a new junior college in Cobb County, Kennesaw Junior College
(Kennesaw, GA.).
1965
Higher Education Act (1965) signed into law by then President, Lyndon B.
Johnson – the law provided additional financial assistance for students in
postsecondary and higher education and also increased federal money
given to universities and gave low-interest loans for students.
The University System of Georgia’s Board or Regent’s passed a resolution
to create a public two-year college in central Georgia – Macon State
College (Macon, GA).
The Board of Regents approved the establishment of the School of
Dentistry at (Medical College of Georgia) Georgia Regents University.
1975
Morehouse School of Medicine established (Atlanta, GA.) – Founded
originally as part of Morehouse College.
1978
Kennesaw Junior College named was changed to Kennesaw College.
1982
Georgia State University College of Law founded.
1988
Clark Atlanta formed (Merger between Clark College – 1869 and Atlanta
University – 1865.
Kennesaw College was renamed to Kennesaw State University.
1990
Georgia Southern College was renamed Georgia Southern University.
1993
The HOPE Program (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) was
created in 1993 under the supervision of then Georgia Governor Zell
Miller. The scholarship/grant program rewards students with financial
assistance in degree, diploma, and certificate programs at eligible Georgia
public and private colleges and universities and public technical colleges.
HOPE is funded entirely by revenue from the Georgia Lottery.
1997
On August 5, 1997, the Clinton Administration signed the Taxpayer Relief
Act - federal tax credit called the Hope Scholarship inspired by the meritbased scholarship program
2003
The University of Georgia the only public university in North America
with winners of the Rhodes, Marshall, Truman and Goldwater Scholarships
in the same year.
2005
Sheila W. Allen became the first female dean of the College of Veterinary
Medicine at the University of Georgia. Allen is the second female dean of a
College of Veterinary Medicine in the United States.
2007
The Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) created the
Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG), an entity comprising the
technical colleges under its administration, and in 2008 the DTAE's name
officially changed to TCSG.
2008
Technical College System of Georgia announce a series of administrative
mergers within the system. Mergers involve the integration of the colleges'
administrations and their local boards of directors, with all campus
locations remaining open.
2009
First series of Technical College System of Georgia school mergers:
Coosa Valley Technical College and Northwestern Technical College
became Georgia Northwestern Technical College.
`
Appalachian Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, and
North Metro Technical College became Chattahoochee Technical College.
West Central Technical College and West Georgia Technical College
became West Georgia Technical College.
Southeastern Technical College and Swainsboro Technical College became
Southeastern Technical College.
West Central and West Georgia Technical Colleges merged to become the
new West Georgia Technical College.
2010
Second series of Technical College System of Georgia school mergers:
Valdosta and East Central Technical Colleges merged to become the new
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.
Griffin Technical College and Flint River Technical College merged to
become the new Southern Crescent Technical College.
2011
Georgia Assembly passed HB 186 requiring State Board of Education, the
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of
Technical and Adult Education to develop course standards that ensure the
core curriculum of all Georgia public high schools will be accepted at any
institution of higher education in the state.
University System of Georgia Board of Regents officially changed the
name of the Medical College of Georgia to Georgia Health Sciences
University.
Sandersville Technical College and Heart of Georgia Technical College
merged to become the new Oconee Fall Line Technical College.
2012
Augusta State merged with Georgia Health Sciences University to form
Georgia Regents University.
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the merger
of Middle Georgia College with Macon State College renaming the school
Middle Georgia State College.
2013
Students applying for the HOPE scholarship are not required to complete a
FAFSA form to qualify and prove their legal status.
Central Georgia Technical College and Middle Georgia Technical College
merged to become the new Central Georgia Technical College.
2014
Altamaha Technical College and Okefenokee Technical College merged to
become the new Coastal Pines Technical College.