About GGC

Welcome to the future of education. Your education.

A few years ago, Georgia Gwinnett College was home to just over 100 students. Let’s just say – things have changed. What was once 261 acres of rolling terrain has become the perfect metropolitan college campus of 11,627 students. What’s so perfect about it? GGC adapts to how you do things – your learning style, your work schedule and your life. From the ground up, GGC was designed to help you succeed.

Founded

In 1994, Gwinnett County was the largest county east of the Mississippi without a four-year college. So Gwinnett County leaders purchased 160 acres of land and designated it specifically for the development of a college campus. GGC opened its doors in 2006 as the first four-year college founded in Georgia in more than 100 years, and the first four-year, public college created in the U.S. in the 21st century. Georgia Gwinnett College is a member of the University System of Georgia.

Location

The College is located in Lawrenceville, Georgia, in the heart of Gwinnett County. Gwinnett is a vibrant community 30 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta where a mixture of quiet postcard neighborhoods and bustling commercial districts blend the past with the present. Here, progress and quality of life connect so that everyone enjoys the small town ambience with all the amenities of a big city. Businesses and residents alike enjoy safe neighborhoods, good schools, modern infrastructure and a thriving economy. 

Gwinnett County remains one of the most dynamic regions in the South to live and work with an estimated population of about 896,000 with 1.2 million projected by the year 2025.

View GGC's master plan.

GGC’s Innovative Model

GGC’s innovative practices, caring culture and extremely affordable tuition are changing the game in higher education, and changing the future for students at all levels, of all ages and from all walks of life.

GGC combines proven student/faculty engagement practices with small class sizes, individual attention, remarkable facilities, a diverse and inclusive culture and student mentoring to enhance student success. We call that transformative – for higher education in general, and for individual students in particular.

GGC’s groundbreaking, four-year college model changes how educators facilitate and support student learning. The innovative model is characterized by GGC’s integrated approach to these three critical elements: attention, affordability and access.

• Attention: GGC’s committed faculty and staff provide students with the support and tools they need to be successful in college and in life. 
• Affordability: GGC offers a high-quality, attentive education for a lot less money.
• Access: GGC opens the door to four-year degrees for more people, including those who might have never considered college. 

Vision

Georgia Gwinnett College will be a premier 21st Century Liberal Arts College where learning will take place continuously in and beyond the confines of the traditional classroom. Its cornerstones will be innovative use of educational technology and a commitment to an integrated educational experience that develops the whole person. GGC will be a wellspring of educational innovation. It will be a dynamic learning community where faculty engagement in teaching and mentoring students will be the hallmark. It will be a driving force for change in student success. As such, it will be a model for innovative approaches to education, faculty engagement with students, and highly efficient student, facility, and administrative services.

Mission

Georgia Gwinnett College provides access to targeted baccalaureate and associate level degrees that meet the economic development needs of the growing and diverse population of the northeast Atlanta metropolitan region. It emphasizes the innovative use of technology and active-learning environments to provide its students enhanced learning experiences, practical opportunities to apply knowledge, increased scheduling flexibility, and a variety of course delivery options. Georgia Gwinnett’s outstanding faculty and staff actively engage students in various learning environments, serve as mentors and advisors, and assist students through programs designed to enhance their academic, social, and personal development. GGC produces contributing citizens and future leaders for Georgia and the nation. Its graduates are inspired to contribute to the local, state, national, and international communities and are prepared to anticipate and respond effectively to an uncertain and changing world.

Operating Principles

Georgia Gwinnett College is committed to the following operating principles:

• Continuous review, assessment, change, and experimentation
• Holistic development of students
• Building partnerships with its business and community constituents
• Developing a workforce of highly competent teachers and staff who are also action oriented and innovative
• Innovatively integrating technology into educational experiences
• Diversity and building a multicultural environment to prepare students to succeed in a global society
• Being the community of choice to work for faculty, administrators, and staff
• Providing a supportive work environment that encompasses involvement, open communications, a spirit of collegiality and an appropriate reward system

Please view our Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action policies.

Four Pillars

Scholarship

Georgia Gwinnett College produces graduates prepared for life-long, intentional learning. These graduates will continue to discover, acquire, integrate and apply knowledge in ways that enhance both their lives, and the lives of others.

Leadership

GGC inspires its graduates to model purposeful, intentional actions that enable them, and those around them, to work together in cohesive and coherent ways toward common goals. Our students lead by example, with both their hearts and their minds, while encouraging others to do the same.

Service

Georgia Gwinnett College encourages each graduate to live as engaged, contributing citizens, and to serve actively in ways that will result in positive impacts on their local, state, national and international communities.

Creativity 

GGC cultivates the attributes of curiosity, intellectual versatility, imagination and critical thinking to enable graduates to embrace varied perspectives, identify key points of convergence among disparate ideas and situations, and generate creative ideas and innovative solutions.

Policy Disclaimer

The authoritative source of information concerning Board approved policies and procedures governing academic and administrative matters is the Policy Manual of the Board of Regents. In cases of inconsistency, Board of Regents policy takes precedence.

The Administrative Policy Manual is Georgia Gwinnett College's primary policy manual. In the event of a conflict between the Faculty Manual, Catalog or Student Handbook and the Administrative Policy Manual, the Administrative Policy Manual prevails.