Agreement will diversify experience and perspective of students in College of Business and Technology graduate programs

Beginning in fall 2023, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (ABAC) graduates will be able to accelerate their admission to select Georgia College & State University (GCSU) graduate business programs. 

The deans of GCSU’s J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology and ABAC’s Stafford School of Business signed a memorandum of understanding Wednesday to waive testing requirements and application fees, and permit early decision, for ABAC graduates to enroll in GCSU’s Georgia WebMBA®, Master of Management Information Systems (MMIS) and MMIS Online Graduate Certificate programs.

“This conversation speaks to what’s important to us: supporting students and citizens in Georgia and creating opportunities for system universities to collaborate,” Dr. Micheal Stratton, dean of J. Whitney Bunting College of Business and Technology at Georgia College & State University said. “The ability for place-bound students to access our highly-ranked, accredited graduate programs creates a really unique opportunity for students and alumni in that part of Georgia.”

The agreement with ABAC is the most recent of several that develop pathways for students at select Georgia and regional institutions to accelerate their learning and potential earnings by attaining a graduate degree or business certificate at Georgia College.

Dr. Renata Elad, professor and dean of the Stafford School of Business at ABAC said the agreement will increase educational opportunities for students who want to live, work and study in South Georgia.

ABAC’s Stafford School of Business currently provides general business education including logistics, marketing, management and entrepreneurship.

“Many alumni move away for graduate school to make themselves more marketable,” Elad said. “However, if they have access to graduate school and are place bound with those marketable skills, it opens up even better opportunities for them within their community, so they don't have to move somewhere else.”

“It's a wonderful opportunity for our students,” she said. “I’m really excited about this program, and the students I have spoken with are just as excited.”

“I think this is going to add great value to ABAC’s School of Business programs and definitely add diversity of experience and perspective to our programs,” Stratton said.