Mission Statement

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A community committed to learning and to becoming a preeminent associate degree-granting institution, the faculty, staff, administrators, and students of Georgia Perimeter College share the following aspirations: 

• To gain national recognition as a community of learners;
• To assume a national leadership role in developing creative, technologically advanced academic and student services programs;
• To serve as a model for other institutions in developing collaborative partnerships to deliver public services, technical assistance, lifelong learning, and economic development training.

A regional, multi-campus unit of the University System of Georgia, Georgia Perimeter College strives to meet the changing expectations of our diverse collegiate and community constituencies by providing effective, innovative, lifelong educational opportunities. We are committed to diversity, continuous improvement, high academic standards, and the efficient use of resources. In decision-making at all levels, the enhancement of our students' lives is our first priority.

Georgia Perimeter College, a non-residential institution, serves diverse populations of traditional and nontraditional students in Greater Metropolitan Atlanta. Placing learning first, we provide accessible and affordable high quality undergraduate credit and non-credit programs for students seeking to complete an associate degree, transfer to a senior college or university, prepare for immediate entry into a career, pursue personal goals or enhance current workplace skills. Our curriculum specializes in liberal arts and professional preparation and promotes international and intercultural understanding. We also serve the broader community as an educational, cultural, and economic resource.

Our academic programs and student support services focus on careful assessment of our learners' abilities, achievements, and needs, accommodations of their special requirements and resources, and guidance in the development and realization of their expectations and goals. We thus offer specialized sequences of courses and support programs that promote academic and personal success for students of varying levels of academic preparation. We encourage excellence in teaching, provide a technologically advanced learning environment, support innovative strategies for meeting the learning styles of all students, and promote learning by engaging students actively and collaboratively.

In meeting the educational needs of the citizens of Georgia for the 21st century, we share with all other institutions in the University System of Georgia the following characteristics:

• A supportive campus climate, necessary services, and leadership and development opportunities, all to educate the whole person and meet the needs of students, faculty, and staff;
• Cultural, ethnic, racial, and gender diversity in the faculty, staff, and student body, supported by practices and programs that embody the idea of an open, democratic, and global society;
• Technology to advance educational purposes, including instructional technology, student support services, and distance education;
• Collaborative relationships with other System institutions, State agencies, local schools and technical institutes, and business and industry, sharing physical, human, information, and other resources to expand and enhance programs and services available to the citizens of Georgia.

Georgia Perimeter College shares the following commitments to the citizens of Georgia with other associate degree - granting colleges of the University System of Georgia:

• A commitment to excellence and responsiveness within a scope of influence defined by the needs of the local area and by particularly outstanding programs or distinctive characteristics that have a magnet effect throughout the region or state;
• A commitment to a teaching/learning environment, both inside and outside the classroom, that sustains institutional excellence, functions to provide University System access for a diverse student body, and promotes high levels of student learning;
• A commitment to a high quality general education program that supports a variety of well-chosen associate programs and prepares students for transfer to baccalaureate programs, learning support programs designed to ensure access and opportunity for a diverse student body, and a limited number of certificate or other career programs to complement neighboring technical institute programs;
• A commitment to public service, continuing education technical assistance, and economic development activities that address the needs, improve the quality of life, and raise the educational level within the College's scope of influence;
• A commitment to scholarship and creative work for the specific purposes of supporting instructional effectiveness and enhancing institutionally relevant faculty qualifications.

History

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Founded by the citizens of DeKalb County and the DeKalb Board of Education under the Junior College Act of 1958, Georgia Perimeter College opened as DeKalb College with its Clarkston Campus in 1964. It was the only public junior college in the state supported and controlled by a local board of education. It was established in order that any resident of the DeKalb School District who held a high school diploma or its equivalent and who desired to seek two years of postsecondary education might have the opportunity to do so.

The college's Decatur (formerly known as South) Campus opened in 1972. Also beginning in 1972, students enrolled in DeKalb Area Technical School were able to enroll dually in vocational and collegiate programs, and the college was designated DeKalb Community College. As growth continued both for DeKalb County and the college, the Dunwoody (formerly North) Campus was added and began operation in 1979. DeKalb College pioneered in Georgia in open-door admissions, personalized approaches to instruction, and community-related curricula and activities.

In 1985, DeKalb Vocational-Technical School was placed under the governance of a new statewide board for vocational-technical schools with daily operations remaining under the control of the DeKalb County School System. Students enrolled in specific Associate in Applied Science degree programs continued to enroll dually in the college and technical school, which is now known as DeKalb Technical College.

In 1986, when DeKalb County relinquished its support, the college was accepted by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia as the thirty-fourth member institution.

During spring 1993, Georgia Perimeter College in cooperation with Clayton State College, DeKalb Technical College, and Rockdale County Public Schools formed the Rockdale Center for Higher Education, which offers credit and non-credit courses.

In November 1997, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved changing the name of the college from DeKalb College to Georgia Perimeter College to reflect its expanding mission and its service throughout the metro Atlanta area. As part of changing the college's name, the names of the campuses were changed to identify the cities in which they are located.

In December 2001, Georgia Perimeter College's Lawrenceville Campus, along with its partners at the Gwinnett University Center, relocated from its humble beginnings at the MacCleod Industrial Park on Sugarloaf Parkway to its current 177-acre campus at 1000 University Center Lane.

The college's academic offerings correspond with curricular content and requirements of the University System of Georgia. Georgia Perimeter College also serves as a community cultural center for the performing arts in music and drama. Curricula feature transfer, learning support, career, continuing and distance education programs as well as joint educational offerings with other system institutions and state-supported technical institutes. Associate degrees are awarded to graduates who complete the two-year transfer and career programs.