Just after the close of the American Revolution, the
Georgia legislature took a step that was to start another revolution--this one
in higher education. In 1785, Georgia became the first state in the nation to
grant a charter for a state-supported university, a decision setting the
precedent whereby states would provide for the higher education of their
citizens.
The infant University existed for sixteen years on paper only, without
campus, money, faculty, or students. Finally in 1801 a site was selected for the
campus, and the first few students began to trickle into the newly formed
frontier town of Athens. That first year the faculty consisted only of the
College president, Josiah Meigs. Classes were held in a primitive log structure
while the University, then called Franklin College, waited for its first
permanent building.
From such tenuous beginnings, The University of Georgia has grown to become a
major teaching, research, and service institution with over 3,000 full-time
faculty, 14 colleges, and a physical plant serving more than 32,300 students.
The main campus covers 614 acres, and the University owns extensive acreage
across the state. Off-campus centers and experiment stations carry University
services to all parts of the state, directly affecting the lives of millions
through continuing education, specialized institutes, and applied research.
From its original classical curriculum, the University's scope and diversity
of degree programs have grown dramatically. At the undergraduate level, the
University provides an associate degree and 20 baccalaureate degrees with
concentrations in 176 major fields. At the graduate level, it offers 27 master's
degrees in 149 areas of concentration, 22 educational specialist degree
programs, and doctoral degrees--Ph.D., Ed.D., D.M.A., and D.P.A.--in 109 areas.
In addition, professional degree programs are available in law (JD), pharmacy
(PHARMD), and veterinary medicine (DVM). The University's research programs
combine to make it one of the largest research institutions in the country.
The rich heritage of the tree-shaded campus of Franklin College, now the
University's Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, has been preserved in spite
of extensive campus expansion to provide modern classroom and laboratory
facilities. The arch at the campus entrance, the 1806 Old College structure
which now houses administrative offices, and other early nineteenth-century
buildings renovated for continuing use offer quiet tribute to Georgia's 200-year
dedication to providing quality education for its citizens. Construction of the
new 200,000 square foot Student Learning Center in the core of campus is well
underway. The Student Learning Center will combine traditional architecture with
state-of-the-art technology, reflecting the University’s respect for the past
as well as it’s commitment to the future.
The most complete account of this institution's long and interesting history
is T. G. Dyer's The University of Georgia: A Bicentennial History, 1785-1985.
Several other studies provide insight into various periods of the University's
history: E. M. Coulter, College Life in the Old South; A. L. Hull, A
Historical Sketch of The University of Georgia; H. C. Tuck, Four Years at
The University of Georgia, 1877-1881; and R. P. Brooks, The University of
Georgia Under Sixteen Administrations, 1785-1955. F. N. Boney's Pictorial
History of The University of Georgia, published during the University's
Bicentennial, S. Abell's, The University of Georgia, a book of
photographs commissioned by the Alumni Society in 1987, and F. N. Boney's A
Walking Tour of The University of Georgia, issued in 1989 by The University
of Georgia Press, provide additional insight, background, and color to the
University's history and traditions.