News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-4781 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE June 28, 2007

ABAC STEAMING AHEAD TOWARD FOUR-YEAR DEGREES ON CAMPUS

TIFTON-Four-year degrees at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College turned from a dream into reality on Wednesday when President David Bridges announced that accreditation had been granted for two new programs by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

"This is great news," said Bridges, who begins his second year as ABAC's 10^th president on July 1. "Now we can go full speed ahead with the four-year degrees on the ABAC campus. This is a tremendous step forward for this college and opens the door for many more opportunities we can make available to our students."

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved ABAC for State College status on May 17, 2006. State Colleges in the System offer primarily associate degrees but can offer limited four-year degrees.

At that point, the only thing keeping the college from offering the four-year degree programs was the accreditation process. With SACS approval, ABAC will begin offering Bachelor of Applied Science degrees in Diversified Agriculture and Turfgrass and Golf Course Management on Jan. 7, 2008 when the spring semester begins. Some students may choose to take some necessary core curriculum classes this fall to get ready for the junior level classes this spring.

"Credentials and accreditation control the very heartbeat of an academic institution," Bridges said in a letter to the faculty and staff of the college. "Nothing takes precedent over accreditation because it represents an important statement of quality from our peers in higher education. I am delighted with the outcome."

Bridges said the college will immediately launch an effort to recruit students into the programs. His top prospects will be existing ABAC students.

"For a long time students have been telling us they would stay four years at ABAC if we had the degree," Bridges said. "Now we have the programs in place. For the first time since we changed our name to ABAC in 1933, we'll have juniors and seniors on our campus. I really like the sound of that."

The historic degrees come at a time when the college is celebrating its 100th birthday. The celebration began at Homecoming in March and will continue through 2008. ABAC opened its doors as the Second District A&M School on Feb. 20, 1908. The name was later changed to the South Georgia A&M College and then to the Georgia State College For Men at a time when the institution did offer four-year degrees. When the name was changed to ABAC in 1933, it became a two-year college.

Classes for the fall term at ABAC begin on Aug. 20.

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