. . . contribute to the economic, educational, and community development of the citizens of Georgia.

Education

The Origins and Growth of
Georgia’s Technical College System

Over the past decades, the history of Georgia’s Technical College System has been intimately bound up with the history of the state itself. As the needs of Georgia’s businesses have evolved, the leaders of our system have responded with new strategies and new solutions that have kept our economy growing and that continue to provide valuable opportunities for our citizens.

Through the efforts of these dedicated visionaries, we have laid a foundation for Georgia’s Technical College System that allows us to remain strong in times of challenge, flexible in times of change, and focused in times of success.

Georgia has always been a leader in technical education, and the first significant piece of federal legislation directed toward vocational education was the Smith–Hughes Act of 1917, co–sponsored by Georgia Senator—and future governor—Hoke Smith. Georgia’s economy had recovered from the devastation of the Civil War, agriculture was flourishing, and Smith recognized the need for training in the methods of modern industry if the state was to progress. The decline of the cotton economy and the onset of the Great Depression made that need more urgent.

On the eve of World War II, significant federal funds were made available for developing programs in vocational education. In 1943, Dr. M.D. Mobley, then the State Director of Vocational Education, succeeded in getting the State Board of Education to approve his recommended plan for a system of Area Trade Schools, and by 1944 the first school opened in Clarkesville—North Georgia Trade and Vocational School. Four years later, a second school opened in Americus, South Georgia Trade and Vocational School.

In the early 1950s, W.M. Hicks,the State Supervisor of Trade and Industrial Education, watched as returning veterans from Korea and rural folk displaced by the increasing mechanization of agriculture created an increased demand for technical training. Hicks saw that Georgia needed a more aggressive system of vocational training. He carried out numerous studies and recruited the help of elected officials and industry experts. He lobbied among PTA organizations, teachers’ groups and civic clubs. Finally, in 1958, he succeeded in having the State Board of Education approve a set of policies for establishing what would be called Area Vocational–Technical Schools.

By the late 1960s, thousands of Georgians were enrolling in the 19 schools that had opened in Georgia during that decade. At the same time, legislation created Quick Start, a unique workforce–training program.

The growth continued, and soon another major landmark was reached in 1984 when Governor Joe Frank Harris created the State Board of Postsecondary Vocational Education, which ultimately led to the creation of the Department of Technical and Adult Education in 1988. That same year, the state’s adult literacy programs were transferred to the newly created DTAE, to work side by side with the technical schools and Quick Start. For the first time in Georgia history, a state agency was now dedicated to the full scope of workforce development services—literacy, technical education and economic development.

These developments marked a new way of thinking about technical education in Georgia. We recognized the need to link technical education to the needs of Georgia’s businesses and industries, its people and its communities. No longer were Georgia’s technical schools just teaching trades. Technical education became a key component in economic and community development around the state.

By the year 2000, more than one billion dollars had been invested in modernizing the system. Students were flocking to the new campuses that were being built. And in that same year legislation allowed our technical institutes to change their names to technical colleges and provided a funding formula that would accommodate our phenomenal growth in enrollment. The legislation also expanded Georgia’s unique HOPE scholarship program, making financial aid more available to all technical college students. And in 2002, the Gwinnett County Board of Education and the State Board of the DTAE agreed to transfer governance of Gwinnett Technical College to our state system.

Today, guided by our three defining principles—customer focus, partnerships with business and industry, and a commitment to quality—the system’s 34 technical colleges are at the center of the state’s economic development team, providing careers for Georgia’s citizens and guaranteeing success for Georgia’s future.