Bainbridge State College is a four-year state college of the University System of Georgia in Bainbridge, Georgia. For more than 30 years, Bainbridge State College has provided higher education to the residents of southwest Georgia. The college is among the fastest growing in the state, enjoying a 52 percent increase in enrollment since Fall 2001.
The college’s campus is located on 173 acres (0.70 km2) of land just inside the Bainbridge city limits on U.S. Highway 84 East. The college is a community institution with no on-campus residence facilities.
A separate campus in Blakely, Georgia is Bainbridge College Early County (which was built in 1999 as Albany Technical College. The Early County Satellite Center was bought by Bainbridge College in 2006). There is also a campus in Donalsonville, Georgia that opened for Summer semester, 2016.
Students commute from the nearby towns of Attapulgus, Blakely, Brinson, Cairo, Camilla, Climax, Colquitt, Donalsonville, Iron City, Pelham, Thomasville, and Whigham. With the inclusion of Gadsden County to the college's service area, students from neighboring Florida communities also attend as in-state students.
It was established in 1970 with support of local citizens, including former Georgia governor Marvin Griffin, and its doors opened in 1973, during the governorship of Jimmy Carter. Dr. Edward Mobley was the first president. He served from the beginning of the college until 1999, when Dr. Clifford Brock took over, for what proved to be a tumultuous relationship. Dr. Sherman Day was assigned as interim president upon Dr. Brock's exit and gave the college a sense of stability once again. Dr. Thomas Wilkerson became president in 2005.
The 1973 charter faculty consisted of Dr. Robert DuBay, Dean; Dr. R. Everett Langford, Chemistry and Geology; and Dr. Ray Chambers, History.
On February 13, 2013, the Board of Regents for the University System of Georgia officially announced that Bainbridge College had been converted into a 4-year state college, and its name was officially changed to Bainbridge State College.
References
External links
- Entry for Bainbridge College on the New Georgia Encyclopedia webpage
