New Transfer Program Offers Path to Georgia Tech for Atlanta Public School Students

Georgia Tech is invested in the students, teachers, and families of the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) system through a variety of outreach, tutoring, and other support programs, including those sponsored by CEISMC and Constellations. 

Interest from APS students in a Tech education has risen dramatically over the last three years, with first-year applications from the system increasing by 68%. In an effort to help as many local students as possible earn a Georgia Tech degree, beginning this spring any first-year applicant not admitted will have a guaranteed transfer offer via the newly launched APS Pathway Program.

Here’s how it works: students will attend another college for one to two years, completing a minimum of 30 credit hours of specified courses for their intended major and earning a 3.3 GPA or higher. At that point, they can apply as a transfer student and have a guaranteed spot at Tech.

"APS produces some of the best and brightest students,” said Raheem Beyah, dean and Southern Company Chair in the College of Engineering and graduate of Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta. “I’m thrilled that we have an additional mechanism to encourage them to choose Georgia Tech.”

While this program is new, admission efforts in the APS are not. In 2014 Tech launched the APS Scholars program, which offers automatic acceptance to APS valedictorians and salutatorians. Georgia Tech now enrolls more APS valedictorians and salutatorians than any other college in the nation. Additionally, each year the Undergraduate Admission team delivers acceptance packets to several APS high school students in person. This year President Cabrera participated virtually in that effort, personally congratulating admitted students and their families.

Transfer enrollment continues to grow significantly as well, aligning with the focus area of Expand Access in the Institute’s strategic plan. In 2020, the campus welcomed a record 1,146 new transfer students. Nearly one-third of last year’s Tech graduates started their college career at another college or university.

“At many elite colleges in the country, entering as a first-year student is your only viable route. While Tech has an international reputation, we are deeply committed to serving as a public good for our city,” said Rick Clark, director of Undergraduate Admission. “The APS Pathway is a perfect example of those efforts.”

The APS Pathway makes the eighth articulated transfer pathway offered to students who do not begin their studies at Tech. Other pathways center around first-generation students, Pell-eligible students, veterans, and students pursuing specific majors.