History
Columbus Technical College first opened its doors on December 1, 1961 as Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School with seven instructors and thirty-nine students enrolled in eight different programs of study. Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School operated as a unit within the Muscogee County School District. Immediate growth led to the merging of Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School with Muscogee Area Vocational-Technical School in 1966. Expansion came soon thereafter with a $500,000 addition that was completed at the Manchester Expressway facility in July 1967, which in turn, enabled the school to offer students a larger variety of courses.
On December 12, 1972, the stature of Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School grew when it received formal accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. The 1970s saw significant growth when an expansion of $2.6 million in 1977 more than doubled floor space, enabling the School to better serve the needs of the changing community.
Recognizing the College's excellence in 1981, the state selected the College as one of only three technical schools in Georgia to pilot engineering-technology programs offering an Associate Degree in Applied Technology. The year 1985 saw another expansion of $6.8 million, allowing the campus to grow, to offer additional courses, and to consolidate on what is now the main campus.
In 1985, technical education became even more professional with the creation of a State Board of Postsecondary Education. Control of the Columbus Area Vocational-Technical School was officially transferred to the State Board on July 1, 1987.
In August 1985, the state recognized 25 years of continued progress by renaming the School as Columbus Technical Institute to be part of a state-wide network of technical schools. Consolidation of the mission of technical education was embodied when the State Board was renamed the Georgia Department of Technical and Adult Education on July 1, 1988. Progress continued when a new library was completed in September 1996. In May 2000, with the passage of the Education Reform Act (House Bill 1187), Columbus Technical Institute was renamed Columbus Technical College.
The College began a complete renovation of the North Building in June 2003 and completed it in October 2004 at a cost of $2.1 million. In October 2003, the North Building was renamed Carl Patrick Hall to honor Carl L. Patrick, Sr., because the land on which the College is now located originally belonged to the Patrick family: moreover, Carl L. Patrick, Sr.-the college’s first significant financial benefactor.
In the fall of 2010, a state-of-the-art health sciences complex for Columbus Technical College opened on a 27-acre site on adjacent property. Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue approved $16.28 million in state funding toward the Robert L. Wright, Jr. Health Sciences Center in his 2008 budget. In an addition to the public funds, the capital campaign benefiting the college, Tomorrow’s Workforce... Today raised an estimated $10 million in private dollars. Expansion and improvement of Columbus Technical College is constantly in the works.
Today and always, Columbus Technical College will continue to anticipate and respond to the community's educational and workforce-training needs in order to guarantee that the region's businesses and its citizens prosper.