Georgia Southwestern State, ABAC make top 10 Georgia colleges list

ALBANY – Schools.com has published its list of the four-year colleges it ranks highest in Georgia. Two Southwest Georgia institutions are in the list.

Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton ranked No. 7, followed by Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus at No. 8.

The top 10 list is for schools in Georgia where students can earn a campus-based or online bachelor’s degree. Schools.com gathered data from the National Center for Education Statistics and other U.S. Department of Education sources on more than 50 public and not-for-private schools in the state and analyzed it with their 13-point methodology.

GSW had the smallest student population of any of the colleges and universities that made the top 10 for the state, with Schools.com officials noting the “intimate learning environment” at the Americus university.

GSW President Neal Weaver said that educational setting at his university provides more focused attention for students.

“One-to-one communication between faculty and students at Georgia Southwestern is not simply a selling point,” Weaver said. “It takes place every day on our campus and online through our learning management system. The focused attention we give to students is an aspect of our learning environment that we take great pride in. It is no surprise that we have been recognized for it with this ranking from schools.com.”

Schools.com officials noted that students seeking degrees on-line “seem to flock to Georgia Southwestern. The Americus school posted the highest percentage enrollment in distance education programs of any school on our list, with nearly 60 percent of students taking at least some of their coursework in the virtual classroom. It also had the second-highest student retention rate among our best traditional and online colleges in Georgia.”

Regarding ABAC, Schools.com officials said, “This Tifton school ranked at No. 4 statewide on two affordability metrics: expense of average tuition and fees and cost of books and supplies. Its average net price in 2015 was low enough to qualify it for the No. 3 spot in the state in that category. The three-year student loan repayment rate for ABAC graduates ranked fifth among our top 10 Georgia schools.

“By limiting its selection of academic plans on a few specific types of degree, ABAC aims to provide targeted instruction to its students. Students in its bachelor’s degree programs in agriculture, biology, horticulture, business, nursing, rural studies and natural resource management are expected to know how to take their skills either directly into the workforce or on up the academic ladder to a master’s degree and beyond.”

ABAC opened the 2017 fall term with nearly 2,000 students enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs, an all-time record. ABAC is offering 13 bachelor’s degree programs this fall.

The state’s two best known institutes — Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia — ranked first and second on the list, respectively.

The remaining schools in the top ten were No. 3 Middle Georgia State University, No. 4 the University of North Georgia, No. 5 Dalton State College, No. 6 Augusta University, No. 9 Columbus State University and, rounding out the list, No. 10 Atlanta Metropolitan State College.

The full list can be seen at www.schools.com/online-colleges/georgia.