Culture of Atlanta, Georgia - Education

Education

Main articles: List of colleges and universities in metropolitan Atlanta, Atlanta Public Schools, and List of private schools in Atlanta

Due to the more than 30 colleges and universities located in the city, Atlanta is considered a center for higher education. Among the most prominent public universities in Atlanta is the Georgia Institute of Technology, a research university located in Midtown that has been consistently ranked among the nation’s top ten public universities for its degree programs in engineering, computing, management, the sciences, architecture, and liberal arts. Georgia State University, a public research university located in Downtown Atlanta, is the second largest of the 35 colleges and universities in the University System of Georgia and a major contributor to the revitalization of the city’s central business district. Atlanta is also home to nationally renowned private colleges and universities, most notably Emory University, a leading liberal arts and research institution that ranks among the top 20 schools in the United States and operates Emory Healthcare, the largest health care system in Georgia. Also located in the city is the Atlanta University Center, the largest contiguous consortium of historically black colleges, comprising Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Interdenominational Theological Center. Atlanta also contains a campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design, a private art and design university that has proven to be a major factor in the recent growth of Atlanta’s visual art community.

Atlanta Public Schools enrolls 55,000 students in 106 schools, some of which are operated as charter schools. The district has been plagued by a widely publicized cheating scandal exposed in 2009. Atlanta is also served by various private schools, as well as parochial Roman Catholic schools operated by the Archdiocese of Atlanta.