Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) recently signed an articulation agreement with Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen, Scotland to offer international educational opportunities to CGTC students. Jeff Scruggs, executive vice president, Amy Holloway, vice president of Academic Affairs, and Rick Hutto, director of Global Initiatives, made the trip to Scotland to secure the agreement. Four associate degree programs are included in the agreement: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Management, and Hotel/Restaurant/Tourism Management.

“The CGTC programs are so intensive that our graduates can attend Robert Gordon University for another year and earn their bachelor’s degree after earning their two-year Associate degree at CGTC,” said Hutto. Robert Gordon University has two types of bachelors, the bachelor and the bachelor with honors. The bachelor with honors takes an additional year and is for students pursing medical or law degrees. Both degrees are respected in the U.S.

Study abroad students attending RGU have financial options for tuition. The guaranteed MERIT scholarship provides $2,000-$9,000 per year depending on the student’s GPA, ranging from 3.0 to 4.0. Another option is Scotland’s Saltire Scholarships, which are offered on a matched-funding basis between the Scottish government and Scottish higher education institutions. This option is only available for American and Canadian students.

While in Europe, the CGTC group also visited a vocational high school in London. The College is working on an articulation agreement with Heathrow Aviation Engineering University Technical College (Heathrow UTC), which will include CGTC’s dual enrollment students attending Heathrow UTC, and the European students will attend CGTC.

CGTC’s office of Global Initiatives, created in fall 2013, is committed to expanding the College’s reach around the globe to offer students even more educational opportunities. In addition to the recent agreement with RGU, CGTC has also signed an articulation agreement with a consortium of colleges in Columbia, South America. The College anticipates being able to offer an English immersion program in which Colombian students can come to CGTC and visit other sites in the Southeast, beginning in 2015. CGTC is currently hosting four students from Tunisia and is also developing relationships with universities in China.