The leadership of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) and Mercer University have signed an articulation agreement that creates new education opportunities for TCSG students who graduate with an associate degree from any of the 19 TCSG colleges that are accredited by the Southern Association of College and Schools: Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC).

Under the agreement, which was signed on Aug. 18, students who complete their associate degree from a SACS-COC accredited TCSG college can transfer their college credits toward a bachelor’s degree in one of the following nine programs offered by Mercer’s College of Continuing and Professional Studies or Tift College of Education:

— General Education

— Human Resources Administration and Development

— Human Services

— Informatics

— Organizational Leadership

— Public Safety

— Early Childhood Special Education

— Middle Level Education

— Early Care and Education

“We’re grateful to Mercer University Provost Wallace Daniel and his faculty and staff for their desire to partner with the TCSG on this articulation agreement and open new doors of opportunity for our students. It creates a seamless pathway for eligible TCSG graduates who want to continue their higher education and earn a bachelor’s degree from one of Georgia’s great private universities,” said TCSG Commissioner Ron Jackson.

Candidates must meet all requirements for admission to Mercer University and the appropriate degree program. For more information about Mercer, go to www.mercer.edu

Southwest Georgia Technical College is one of the 19 TCSG colleges accredited by SACS-COC. The other 18 TCSG colleges with this same accreditation are: Albany Technical College, Athens Technical College, Atlanta Technical College, Augusta Technical College, Central Georgia Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, Columbus Technical College, DeKalb Technical College, Georgia Northwestern

Technical College, Gwinnett Technical College, Middle Georgia Technical College, North Georgia Technical College, Okefenokee Technical College, Savannah Technical College, Southeastern Technical College, Southern Crescent Technical College, West Georgia Technical College and Wiregrass Georgia Technical College.

The remaining six TCSG colleges are accredited by the separate Council on Occupational Education, although each is currently involved in the process to also earn its SACS-COC accreditation. Those six colleges are: Altamaha Technical College, Lanier Technical College, Moultrie Technical College, Oconee Fall Line Technical College, Ogeechee Technical College and South Georgia Technical College.

“The expansion of this articulation agreement with Mercer University gives our students at Southwest Georgia Technical College additional opportunities to continue their higher education. More and more of our associate degree graduates are going on to continue their education and Mercer University is certainly one of the excellent institutions to do that. We are continually trying to explore and increase the number and variety of opportunities for our graduates,” said Dr. Craig Wentworth, SWGTC president.

Southwest Georgia Technical College is a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia.