GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

public, coeducational institution of higher learning in Atlanta, Ga., U.S. It is part of the University System of Georgia. The university consists of six colleges, including the College of Law. In addition to undergraduate studies, Georgia State offers master's and doctoral degree programs in a range of areas, as well as a professional degree in law. The Gwinnett Center in Lawrenceville and the North Metro Center in Atlanta are branch campuses. Total enrollment is approximately 24,000. The university began in 1913 as the Georgia Tech Evening School of Commerce. In the 1930s the school was largely independent though officially tied to the Georgia Institute of Technology. The school's affiliation was changed in 1947, and its name became the Atlanta Division of the University of Georgia. It became the Georgia State College of Business Administration, a separate public college, in 1955. The school's expanding curriculum belied this narrow definition, however, and in 1961 the name was changed to Georgia State College; university standing was achieved in 1969.