The state Technical College System board voted Thursday to merge two more of its colleges, which would reduce the system to 22 institutions.
Moultrie Technical College and Southwest Georgia Technical College will be merged by July 1, 2015.
Moultrie Tech has two campuses in Moultrie and additional campuses in Ashburn, Sylvester and Tifton. Southwest Georgia Technical has its main campus in Thomasville and other campuses in Cairo and Camilla. Last year, the two colleges enrolled 5,121 students.
No campuses will be closed in the merger, but duplicate administrative positions will be reduced. One president will be selected for the new institution, which will also have a new name.
Like the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System has used mergers to cut costs and streamline academic offerings. In 2009, the state had 33 technical colleges. Since then, 17 colleges have been merged into eight. The system currently comprises 24 technical colleges.
The Moultrie-Southwest Georgia Tech merger follows the pending consolidation of Altamaha Technical College in Jesup and Okefenokee Technical College in Waycross. A merger of those two southeast Georgia colleges will be complete next month. The new institution will be called Coastal Pines Technical College.
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