Bachelor’s degrees are more popular than ever before at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, according to numbers released by Dr. Amy Willis, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Willis said that of the 3,990 students enrolled at ABAC during the 2020 fall semester, a total of 2,353 pursued bachelor’s degrees.  That tops the mark of 2,194 students who enrolled in four-year degree programs during the 2019 fall term.

“Bachelor’s degree programs will be the lifeblood and the future of this college,” ABAC President David Bridges predicted when he took office on July 1, 2006.  A total of 40 ABAC students enrolled in junior and senior level classes for the first time on Jan. 7, 2008.

Edwin Glover, Richard Irvin, Garrett Jones, and Joshua Lanier were the first bachelor’s degree recipients at the ABAC spring commencement ceremony on May 7, 2009.  ABAC offered classes leading to associate degrees for 75 years before it became a State College of the University System of Georgia in 2006.

ABAC now offers 12 bachelor’s degrees including Agribusiness, History and Government, Agriculture, Nursing, Agricultural Communication, Business, Agricultural Education, Biology, Environmental Horticulture, Writing and Communication, Rural Community Development, and Natural Resource Management which includes Forestry and Wildlife.

ABAC also continues to offer associate degrees including the quite popular Associate of Science degree in nursing.  Willis said a record 326 students enrolled in associate degree nursing classes at ABAC Tifton and ABAC Bainbridge during the fall term.

A total of 895 ABAC students pursued nursing degrees, many of those taking core curriculum classes to prepare them for the nursing program.  Fifty-nine students in that fall term total enrolled in ABAC’s bachelor’s degree program in nursing.

“The reputation of the ABAC nursing program has never been higher,” Bridges said.  “ABAC turns out quality graduates who are much sought after in an industry that looks for more nurses every day.”

ABAC attracted students from 155 of Georgia’s 159 counties and 53 of Florida’s 67 counties during the fall term when the college recorded its second highest enrollment ever. The student body included students from 19 other states including Wyoming, Washington, and California, and 24 countries including France, Switzerland, and Australia.

ABAC was fourth among the nine State Colleges in the 26-member University System of Georgia in overall enrollment and had a higher enrollment than three of the state universities.  Classes for the ABAC spring semester began on Jan. 25 and will continue through May 7.