The University System of Georgia announced Tuesday it’s consolidating East Georgia State College and Georgia Southern University.
The Board of Regents will vote on the plan to close the school next week, which arose after years of declining enrollment at East Georgia State. The school is located in Swainsboro, about 180 miles (289.68 km) southeast of Atlanta. It had about 1,826 students last fall, down from 3,000 in 2015. Since school funding is based on enrollment, its total budget has dropped from $31.4 million to slightly more than $24 million over the past five years.
The University System began consolidating schools in 2011 for efficiency and to cut costs. There were 35 schools then, and there will soon be 25 if the move with East Georgia State gets approved. It is unclear when the consolidation process will be complete.
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