CLARKSTON, GA, September 13, 2022 — Georgia Piedmont Technical College is experiencing an encouraging trend when it comes to enrollment. At the time of this writing, just over 2,800 students have registered for fall 2022 classes; this compares to less than 2,500 at this time last year. Georgia Piedmont’s fall enrollment increase is about 12 percent (300-plus students). High schoolers represent a large part of this pool with more than 900 high school students (primarily juniors and seniors) from DeKalb, Newton and Rockdale counties earning college credit at little to no cost through the dual enrollment program at GPTC.
“While our traditional enrollment is also seeing a healthy hike, we are especially thrilled at the number of dual enrollment students taking classes here at Georgia Piedmont,” said Dr. Shawn Adams, vice president of student affairs. “COVID really took a toll on dual enrollment simply because of safety measures and the fact that our recruiters were not allowed to tell the story of GPTC with these young people and their counselors face-to-face. Now that the paradigm is shifting, we are back recruiting at the schools.”
The overall enrollment number will likely get even larger as the college continues to register students for what is commonly referred to as a mini-mester. These eight-week terms are the perfect opportunity for students to either test the college waters for the first time or to pick up extra core and/or program-specific credits. The next mini-mester at Georgia Piedmont starts October 10.
“Every faculty and staff member at the College is committed to recruiting students and preparing them for success. This is what it takes to address the workforce needs of our communities,” said Dr. Tavarez Holston, president of GPTC. “We are all involved — whether it’s through face-to-face interaction at our open houses and recruiting events, through digital platforms like organic or paid marketing or just word of mouth. This enrollment trend is evidence of the value our college provides our graduates and is proof that the word is getting out about our institution.”
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