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 11, 2008

MOULTRIE STUDENTS CAN GET FOUR-YEAR EDUCATION DEGREE AT ABAC

TIFTON—Students in the Moultrie area who aspire to be teachers can now take advantage of a brand new partnership between Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) and Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW).

Beginning with the 2008 fall semester, GSW will offer a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education on the ABAC campus in Tifton.

“We have a lot of students at ABAC on the Square who take classes here in downtown Moultrie who want to be teachers,” ABAC on the Square Director Kay Powell said. “Now they can take most of their core classes here and then complete their bachelor’s degree at the main campus in Tifton.”

ABAC President David Bridges and GSW President Kendall Blanchard believe the new degree program will pay huge benefits for south Georgia.

“All our surveys indicated that a four-year education degree in Tifton would attract a large number of students,” Bridges said. “Georgia Southwestern really stepped up to the plate to make this happen. I think it’s going to be a win-win situation for everyone.”

“We are excited that the Board of Regents has approved our proposal to offer an education degree on the ABAC campus,” Blanchard said. “With the shortage of teachers across the state, particularly in Southwest Georgia, this program will not only serve ABAC students who want to enter the teaching field but also the larger community served by the College. It also strengthens the important partnership between Georgia Southwestern and ABAC.”

This program will allow ABAC students to earn junior and senior level credits toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education without traveling to the GSW campus in Americus. Approximately 30 students have already signed up for courses.

The addition of the Early Childhood degree at ABAC is the second new GSW degree offered for the 2008 fall term on the Tifton campus. A Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Resource Management with concentrations in Agribusiness, Forestry and Wildlife Business, Bioenergy and Renewable Resource Business and Turfgrass Business will begin this fall as well.

GSW will also continue to offer junior and senior level night classes on the ABAC campus for four-year business degrees in management and accounting. The financial aid deadline for the ABAC fall term is July 15. The admissions application deadline is Aug. 5. Fall semester classes begin Aug. 18.

For more information about the GSW bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at ABAC, contact the Georgia Southwestern School of Education at (229) 931-2145 or ABAC at (229) 391-4830.

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