Enrollment at GMC on the rise

Published 12:30 pm Tuesday, August 30, 2016

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — The Milledgeville campus of Georgia Military College began its fall term on Monday and welcomed the largest enrollment numbers in the school’s history.

“Right now we’re at the largest enrollment for both college students, right around 1,140, and we have 272 cadets so we’re at just over 1,400 students overall,” said Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, the executive director for the Milledgeville campus.

The junior college is expanding rapidly, both in terms of enrollment and space needed to support students and faculty.

“There is a lot of energy right now; it’s amazing,” said Kauzlarich. “We’re busting at the seams. Teachers are excited about this fall term, which will go from today (Monday) until the 10th of November.”

The number of cadets on the Milledgeville campus had decreased, but Kauzlarich said enrollment is increasing once again. The corps of cadets at GMC is made up of five components: service academy prep, state service guard, the early commissioning program, athletics and the civic leadership program. According to Commandant of Cadets Col. Patrick Beer, cadets are twice as likely to be named to the President’s or Dean’s List than a regular student. GMC is constructing a new building for the cadets located right next to the barracks that is set to open next fall. Ground was broken on the currently unnamed building in May.

Careers in information technology are currently in high demand in the job market, and GMC is expanding its curriculum to help students obtain a job in that field.

“We’ve just added a cyber security program, which is big,” Kauzlarich stated. “In fact we just hired a full-time faculty member to teach cyber security and computer science, so that’s a big addition.”

Looking to the future, GMC will expand in another huge way when classes begin next fall.

“Next fall, a year from now, we will finally offer the bachelor’s in applied science,” said the executive director. “The online campus has it right now, the Augusta campus has it right now, and then we’ll be ready to offer it next fall.”

The GMC slogan, “Start Here…Go Anywhere” is a big draw for the school. Second-year student Brandon Smith from Sandersville said he wants to parlay his time at GMC into attending a larger university.

“I didn’t quite make the grades I expected to on the SAT, so this is a great stepping stone really to get into a bigger college,” said Smith, who hopes to one day have a career in marketing.

Caleb Brown, also a second-year student, said that location and cost attendance went into his decision to attend college at the Milledgeville campus.

“I felt like staying close to home, and it was cheaper,” said Brown, a resident of Jones County. “A bunch of people I know from Jones County went to GMC and said it was a good place to start.”