Middle Georgia College

Institution Overview

Middle Georgia College is a two-year, residential college located almost exactly at the center of the state of Georgia. Cochran, Georgia, a city of 5,000 people, is home to the college. It is about 40 miles south of Macon, conveniently located near the crossroads of two major interstate highways.

The college is situated on 170 acres in this rural community. Sixty acres are developed with campus buildings and more than 100 acres are dedicated to woodlands and facilities for athletics and recreation.

Some 2,600 students attend Middle Georgia College. They come primarily from Georgia but 2 percent are from 18 states and 9 countries. Middle Georgia College boasts a diverse student body with 38 percent minority enrollment. The average student age is 23 and there are slightly more women enrolled than men. The college offers some 50 associate degree programs designed for transfer to any one of the university system's four-year institutions. Concentrations are offered in education, economics, business education, arts and humanities, pre-law, business administration, engineering and engineering technology, natural sciences, nursing, and occupational therapy. The college awards the associate of arts, associate of science and associate of applied science degrees.

The Georgia Academy of Mathematics, Engineering, and Science (GAMES) is a joint-enrollment program offered by Middle Georgia College to top-performing high school juniors and seniors. GAMES students are given the opportunity to spend their last two years of high school at Middle Georgia College, during which they will earn their high school diploma AND their Associate Degree in fields of math or science. Students majoring in engineering will not be able to complete the requirements for an associates degree in two years, so many Engineering students either (A) elect to major in math or physics to receive their Associates Degree and then declare Engineering as a major at their four year college, or (B) simply transfer to a four year school without graduating from MGC with an Associates Degree. In addition to the full time staff, community leaders help provide direction for the Academy. The National Advisory Committee for GAMES is made up of college presidents, politicians, and leaders in business and education.

Middle Georgia College collaborates with Georgia Southwestern State University via the Cochran Campus to extend selective programs through the bachelor's degrees, and collaborates with Georgia Southern University via the University System's Dublin Campus to extend selective programs including associate through master's degrees.

The Dublin Center is conveniently located in a growing population center of central Georgia. The Center offers quality instruction, low cost, relatively small classes, and a faculty dedicated to teaching. A flexible schedule of classes is offered during the day, night, and on the weekends. Outside of class, students at Middle Georgia College can become involved in any of 40 clubs and organizations. Middle Georgia College is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association in the sports of basketball, baseball, softball and tennis and holds four national titles in baseball.

Middle Georgia College was founded in 1884 as the College of the New Ebenezer Association, a group of primarily Baptist churches in Pulaski, Dodge, Laurens, and Telfair counties. The first building was finished by 1886. Instruction began in 1887, with approximately 100 students, most of who were from the middle Georgia area. In 1917, it became an agricultural and mechanical school chartered under the University of Georgia. It became Middle Georgia College in 1929 and a charter member of the University System of Georgia in 1931.