Introduction
In the years since its establishment, Columbus Technical College has gone through many transformations. So, too, has its home base, Columbus, Georgia, a former Creek Indian village site 90 miles southwest of Atlanta.
Urban development has led to Columbus expanding its corporate area eight times since the year it was founded, and in 1970, it consolidated with Muscogee County, making it the largest city in Georgia in land area, with 140,000 acres. Meanwhile, in 1961, Columbus Technical College was opening as the Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School, a unit of the Muscogee County School District. Since then, it has undergone several changes of its own.
In 1966, the school merged with the Muscogee Area Vocational-Technical School, and in 1972, it gained accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The school continued to expand and receive recognition for its programs, and in 1985, it was made part of a statewide network of technical schools and renamed the Columbus Technical Institute. It officially received its current name in 2000 with the passing of the Education Reform Act. It remains a unit of the state of Georgia’s technical college system.
Today, the college boasts healthy enrollment figures and an excellent job placement rate. Its main campus encompasses 26 acres on the north side of the Manchester Expressway and 13.6 acres on the south side. The student body comprises mostly local residents who enjoy the college’s solid reputation in technical fields of study, as well as the educational, cultural and historical attractions that the city of Columbus has to offer.
After class, students can enjoy the music at the Springer Opera House or the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, or they can take in a show at the River Center for the Performing Arts. The Columbus Museum, the National Civil War Naval Museum, or the Coca-Cola Space Science Center are good choices for an educational outing, and sports fans can stop by the Columbus Civic Center to watch the American Indoor Football Association’s Columbus Lions or the South Professional Hockey League’s Columbus Cottonmouths square off with their opponents.