Education

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Education

Several colleges, universities and technical institutions are located in or within a short distance of Paulding County: Kennesaw State University, Mercer University, Georgia Highlands College, and Chattahoochee Technical College. The Paulding Integrated Higher-Education Complex is a regional expansion of the greater University of Georgia State Higher Education System. In September 2009, a combined regional campus of Georgia Highlands College and Kennesaw State University opened in Dallas, Georgia, offering both undergraduate and graduate studies.

Paulding County’s proximity to Atlanta also provides residents with access to the Georgia Institute of Technology, Southern Polytechnic State University, Emory University, Oglethorpe University, and Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta, as well as smaller community and private colleges, universities and specialized schools.

Paulding County residents benefit from the wealth of superb higher education institutions throughout the metro Atlanta area, including nursing programs and teaching hospitals. These institutions serve to increase our region’s already high level of intellectual capital and aids industry/business recruitment.

Area Senior Colleges

Kennesaw State University is the third-largest university in Georgia, offering more than 65 graduate and undergraduate degrees, including new doctorates in education and business. Kennesaw State is a comprehensive, residential institution in neighboring Cobb County with more than 21,000 students from 142 countries. At the new Paulding Integrated Higher-Education Complex, Kennesaw State will offer upper-level undergraduate business classes for juniors and seniors and graduate classes in educational leadership.

Mercer University’s high quality liberal arts education is available to Paulding County residents through its Regional Academic Center in nearby Lithia Springs, although its main campus is in Macon, Ga. Mercer University is a faith-based institution of higher learning that seeks to achieve excellence and scholarly discipline in the fields of liberal learning and professional knowledge. The Mercer Evening and Weekend Degree Program offered at the Lithia Springs campus offers evening and weekend courses to fit the schedules of working professionals. Degrees offered include: B.S. in Education, Early Childhood/Special Education; B.S. in Education, Middle Grades; Bachelor of Business Administration; B.S. in Social Science, Criminal Justice; B.S. in Social Science, Human Services; B.S. in Information Systems; Bachelor of Applied Science in Organization Leadership; and Bachelor of Liberal Studies. Teacher certification is also available.

Area Junior Colleges

Georgia Highlands College is a two-year institution in the University System of Georgia serving more than 4,700 students at five sites in Rome, Cartersville, Marietta, Carrollton, and now, Dallas. It manages the new Paulding Integrated Higher-Education Complex and provides about 15 core curriculum course leading to an associate’s degree for an estimated 300 students. Courses in communication, English, history, mathematics, music, computer studies, psychology, political science, physical education, and reading are included.

Technical Colleges

Chattahoochee Technical College (CTC), a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, has a combined enrollment of 10,000 students across seven North Georgia campuses, making it the largest technical college in Georgia and ranked ninth among all colleges and universities in Georgia. CTC’s Paulding campus offers programs in accounting, administrative office technology, early childhood education, environmental horticulture, general education courses, licensed practical nursing, marketing and management, emergency medical technician, small business entrepreneurship, and CIS website developer. The Paulding campus will soon have a new, 47,000 square-foot classroom building that will house additional programs such as allied health, biomedical technology, public works, construction technology, as well as computer labs, science labs, a library, a learning center, and a Small Business Entrepreneurship Center. Programs not offered at the Paulding County site can be taken at one of the other six campus locations.

Chattahoochee Technical College also off a wide variety of continuing education courses of business, career and personal enrichment, as well as online or hybrid courses on all its campuses.

Work Ready Programs
Across the state of Georgia more than 70,000 people have been awarded their Georgia Work Ready certificates since January of 2007, including more than 300 in Paulding County. The Internet-based WorkKeys assessments show how ready, or trainable workers are for a particular job based on applied mathematics, reading for information, and locating information. There is also a talent assessment, which offers a profile of a person’s workplace behaviors. In Paulding County, the WorkKeys assessments are administered free by Chattahoochee Technical College, as well as to high school seniors in the Paulding County School System. An increasing number of Paulding County businesses are requiring job applicants to have taken the assessment tests, and those employers who do require it can verify the assessments through the state’s Georgia Work Ready website, www.gaworkready.org.