Darton College

Institution Overview

Darton College is a two-year college located in Albany, the hub of southwest Georgia, surrounded by rural cotton, pecan, and peanut farms. Located on a 180-acre campus, Darton prides itself on student success, as measured by its two-year graduates' high pass rates on state licensing tests and their success after transferring to four-year institutions.

Approximately 4,200 traditional and non-traditional students attend Darton College. Students attend primarily from the southwest Georgia region, but the college attracts students from 15 U.S. states and 19 nations. The majority of students are women and 48 percent of them are minority.

The college offers a challenging array of associate-degree programs, including 56 transfer degree majors, 23 two-year career degree programs, and 37certificate programs. Students can also choose from among 16 online degrees. As the nursing and allied health education center for southwest Georgia Darton offers thirteen allied health programs to serve the needs of the health-care industry in the region. These include cardiovascular technology, dental hygiene, diagnostic medical sonography, emergency medical service, health information technology, human services technology, medical laboratory technology, nursing paramedic-RN bridge, occupational therapy assistant, physical therapy assistant, psychiatric technology, and respiratory care. Graduates from the nursing program consistently have among the highest first- time pass rate on the licensing exam.

Students have many opportunities to develop leadership skills by participating in 18 student organizations, including a Cultural Exchange Club, Honors Association, Music Club, Outdoor Adventure Club, SIFE, Young Democrats and Young Republicans, the student newspaper, a literary and art review publication, and five honor societies. Darton has one of the largest two-year college intercollegiate athletic programs in Georgia. Teams compete in the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association/ National Junior College Athletic Association in men's and women's soccer, swimming, and golf, men's baseball, and women's basketball and softball. The women's basketball team boasts two regional championships and the men's golf team is the 2005 National Champions.

The college was founded in 1963 as Albany Junior College and was renamed Darton College in 1987.