Georgia Piedmont Technical College
Georgia Piedmont Technical College (GPTC) realizes that Achieving the Dream will provide the guidance to mobilize and focus on addressing many of the obstacles the college faces. More specifically, overcoming obstacles to assessment are critical at this time in order for GPTC to address educational changes. The resources provided by Achieving the Dream will enable the college to develop effective data mining and analysis for improvement. As an Achieving the Dream Institution, GPTC will:
- Be better able to motivate stakeholders both internal and external
- Restructure and redefine timeframes of action items that will attribute to improving retention and graduation rates
- Increase student success for its largely low-income minority student population
- Improve data collection, analysis and accountability for achieving learning outcomes.
GPTC is committed and looking forward to advancing student success across all areas through participation in Achieving the Dream, which is the responsibility of everyone at the college.
GPTC, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, was established in 1961 and serves DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties in the east metropolitan Atlanta area. GPTC currently has approximately 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes. Academic and technical programs at GPTC cover more than 120 different occupations. The college is considered a Predominantly Black Institution and offers access to a Limited English Proficiency Lab to assist students whose first language is not English.
The GPTC adult education program is the largest adult and international literacy programs in the state. Programs and services offered include adult basic reduction (ABE), GED preparation and testing, English literacy programs (ELP), and citizenship education (EL/Civics) and are offered at 9 convenient centers of learning throughout the four-county service area. GPTC seeks to strengthen its ability to enhance higher education opportunities for low-income African-American male students and improve student persistence with support from Predominantly Black Institutions Competitive Grant funding. The GPTC student population is characterized as low-income and African-American. In the fall 2010 semester, 75% of the student population was African-American and 87% received financial aid; 62% of students were female and 100% of students are residents of Georgia.
