Online College Applications Debut on GAcollege411 

Applying for admission to a Georgia college is about to become a whole lot easier. Beginning September 12, Georgia students can go to GAcollege411.org and apply online to more than 20 colleges and technical colleges in the state. During the fall, that number will increase to more than 100.  

“When the phase in is complete, students will be able to apply online to every public university, college, and technical college in Georgia and more than 30 private colleges and universities in our state,” said Tim Connell, President of the Georgia Student Finance Commission (GSFC), the state agency primarily responsible for developing GAcollege411.  

Online applications is just one of several significant enhancements being introduced this month in the GAcollege411 website, which is revolutionizing the way that Georgia students plan, apply and pay for college. “This expansion of services is part of our commitment to make GAcollege411 a truly one-stop-shop for all Georgians thinking about college,” said Connell. “GAcollege411 is fast becoming the most important education initiative in Georgia since HOPE.” 

GAcollege411, originally launched in February 2005, helps students explore careers; prepare for the SAT, ACT, and GRE; research and compare colleges in Georgia; apply for admission to college; determine the cost of going to college; and research and apply for financial aid. In addition to online applications, the latest round of site improvements include: 

• High School Planner. Students will be able to record their courses, grades, and extracurricular activities. Once entered into the Planner, the information will be automatically transferred into any college application that the student prepares online. The Planner also will track the student’s progress in high school coursework and compare that progress to the actual course entrance requirements for every college in which the student is interested.

• The Adult Learner section of the site has been greatly expanded to better meet the needs of this population as they consider returning to the classroom. (An adult learner is anyone who did not follow the “traditional” path of graduating from high school, immediately enrolling in college, and completing their college degree(s) without  interruption.) 

• The Career Info section has been enhanced. Georgia specific career information and salaries are now available, in addition to the national information. A listing of fastest growing (and fastest declining) careers in Georgia has also been added. 

• In the Paying for College section, more sophisticated and user-friendly financial aid calculators have been added. These include loan repayment, loan consolidation, and college savings plan calculators. SPECIAL NOTE: Beginning September 12, GAcollege411 will be the exclusive online resource for official information about the HOPE Scholarship and other financial aid programs provided by the State of Georgia. Downloadable and online applications are included. 

• The Test Prep section, which helps all students prepare for the SAT, ACT, and GRE, now includes sample questions from COMPASS and ASSET, placement tests commonly used by two-year colleges and technical colleges. In addition, the College Board's Official SAT Prep Course Online will be accessible via GAcollege411. (The Office of the Governor and the Georgia Department of Education recently arranged for this service to be available to all students enrolled in Georgia public schools.)  

• The School Counselor site, which enables high school counselors to help guide their students who are preparing for college, also has been expanded.  

“The new improvements will only add to the popularity of GAcollege411,” said Connell. “To date, more than 24,000 individual My 411 accounts have been created, and the site receives more than 1,000 extended visits every day. Georgia students and parents have been looking for a resource like this, and now they’ve found it.” 

GAcollege411 is a free service of the State of Georgia provided by GSFC and many Georgia partners, including the University System of Georgia, the Department of Technical and Adult Education, the Foundation for Independent Colleges, the Department of Education, the School Counselors Association, the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services, Georgia Public Broadcasting, the Professional Standards Commission, and the Georgia Public Library Service. 

For more information, contact project manager Kris Biesinger, 770-724-9021, KrisB@gsfc.org. 

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