Central Georgia Technical College achieves historic record enrollment

WARNER ROBINS – Technical College System of Georgia reports recently showed an enrollment milestone for Central Georgia Technical College’s 2024 academic year. A record number of over 15,000 students attended CGTC, the most in college history. 

“The college is very proud of this accomplishment as we have been an emerging institution since 2013, and this is our biggest enrollment yet,” Associate Vice President of Enrollment Services, Marketing and Public Relations of CGTC Dr. Janet Kelly said.

“I think mostly it is attributable to the fact that Central Georgia Tech is a true community college as we have expanded our offerings in the classroom but also beyond the classroom with athletics and a lot of different campus life activities.” 

Kelly mentioned CGTC is a workforce-focused school.

“Whenever students come to us, they are looking for a skill, trade, or education for a career path so that they can move into the workforce,” she said. “We offer that short term value-priced education that students can work through and attain their goals quickly.” 

According to Kelly, CGTC is strategically focused on starting up new educational programs that specifically support the local workforce. A new nursing program called the Bridge Program allows students to take LPN experience and move towards RN. 

“This program supports the huge need for healthcare workers in the local area,” she said. 

CGTC has also expanded their Industrial Systems program by adding in AI and robotic manufacturing. Kelly said this is a short-term training program that focuses on new and upcoming technology manufacturing sectors. She also mentioned CGTC is working towards an EV program, where students can work on, repair, and diagnose issues with electric vehicles. 

For the past two-and-a-half years, CGTC has implemented club football to campus life, but this year Kelly said it is moving to a NJCAA program making it Junior College Football. The college is also offering soccer this year as well. 

Another addition Kelly shared is students can receive vaccinations in a clinical setting at no cost, as part of their healthcare programs. 

“The healthcare is covered through a mandatory student fee each semester, so students pay a small one-time fee that gets them access at any time for those basic healthcare services,” she said. “That has been a really great addition to our campus and it’s open to all 15,000 of our students.” 

According to Kelly, housing has also been a priority at CGTC. 

“We are one of three technical colleges in Georgia to offer housing,” she said. “As I understand, there is a waiting list for this fall and that is at our Warner Robins campus.” 

Overall, the college is looking to continue to serve even more students and grow as much as they can. 

“One of the good problems we’re having this fall is just our classes are getting full, and we don’t want to turn our students away,” she said. “Last fall was our first semester of more than 10,000 in one term and we crossed that this past spring.” 

Kelly also said CGTC will continue to form partnerships with high schools with their dual-enrollment program that helps lead to higher numbers of students graduating. 

“They are making us their first choice and we are taking advantage of that and offering these students course work that they want and need,” she said. “Even if they’re heading for a four-year degree at a university system institution, we have something to offer for those first two years of core credit and they can move on to whatever institution they’re looking for.” 

CGTC is still enrolling for the fall term. Second Session in Fall begins Oct. 8. 

For those interested in applying to CGTC, go to centralgatech.edu/apply