Albany State University
With 105 years of success, excellence and innovation in education, Albany State University has earned a trusted reputation in Albany. The University is proud to offer a diverse range of educational programs where students not only learn about practical subjects but also gain lifelong learning. Today, Albany State University is offering over 30 undergraduate degree programs and six advanced degrees. It also offers the Board of Regents’ engineering transfer program and the dual degree engineering program with Georgia Tech.

With over 30 undergraduate and graduate liberal arts and professional degree programs, Albany State university ranks number 26 out of 81 in the magazine’s first ranking of undergraduate education at HBCUs. It has following colleges offering degrees in Business, Education, Arts and humanities:

• College of Business
• College of Arts and Humanities
• College of Education
• College of Science and Health Professions

The Graduate school degree programs include Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Early Childhood Education, Educational Leadership, English Education, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics Education, Middle Grades Education, Music Education, Nursing, Public Administration, School Counseling, Science Education, and Special Education.

Founded in 1903 as the Albany Bible, Holley shares significant contribution in the Albany State University. W.E.B DuBois inspired Holley to return to the South after he read Dubois’s writings on the plight of Black people in Albany in ‘The Souls of Black Folk’. Holley migrated to Albany to start a school. Holley organized a board of trustees and purchased 50 acres of land for the campus with the help of a $2,600 gift from the Hazard family, all within a year. Hazard Family was one of the school trustees. The aim of the institution at that time was to provide elementary education and teacher-training programs for the local Black population.

After continuous struggle of Holley, the institution became financially state-supported agriculture and teacher training college in 1917. Later it changed its name to the Georgia Normal and Agricultural College. In 1932, the school got affiliated with the University System of Georgia and was granted four-year status in 1943. This earned the institution a new name ‘Albany State College’.

In the course of its transition to four-year status, the school’s enrolment increased notably. In 1981 the college offered its first graduate program and right after 15 years, the name was changed to Albany State University. Holley served as President of Albany School from 1903 - 1943. Other Presidents include Aaron Brown (1943-1954), William Dennis (1954-1965), Thomas Miller Jenkins (1965-1969), Charles Hayes (1969-1980), Billy C. Black (1980-1996), Portia Holmes Shields (1996-2005), and Everette J. Freeman (2005- Present)

Of the most significance is the college role in the American Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s. Many students from the school, Black improvement organizations, and representatives from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) came to together to carry out the Albany Movement.

Present Day
Albany State University is an amalgam of students from different countries, cultures and traditions. There’re several social, cultural and religious groups with their own feel. These students come primarily from Atlanta, southwest and middle Georgia, other U.S. states and many countries. Today, the Albany State University student body consists of both traditional and non-traditional students, making up 4,000 student population.