A Brief History

The General Assembly approved the establishment of Ogeechee Technical Institute (OTI) as a public, two-year technical institute under the supervision of the Department of Technical and Adult Education (DTAE) in 1986. Groundbreaking for the campus occurred two years later, and during the following year, Ogeechee Tech began offering its first credit program, Practical Nursing, with 25 students enrolled.

Ogeechee Tech assumed the responsibility for offering Adult Literacy programs and administering the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) examination in 1989.  Faculty and staff moved into the new 75,000 square foot, $6 million state-of-the-art facility Fall of 1990, and additional program offerings began Spring Quarter 1991. Ogeechee Tech graduated its first class of nine Practical Nursing students in December of 1990. 

The opening of Ogeechee coincided with the expansive growth of Georgia Southern University and the Statesboro area. In addition, the establishment of the Georgia State Lottery funded Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally (HOPE) financial aid program in 1993 was a contributing factor in the unprecedented growth of Ogeechee Tech.  

Ogeechee Tech experienced a $5.5 million expansion by adding three buildings—a Health Sciences Building, a Child Enrichment Center, and a Horticulture Building in 1999. During this time, Ogeechee Tech also increased its services through the opening of the Screven County Learning Center in Sylvania.

Ogeechee Tech offered its first Associate of Applied Technology (AAT) degree program in Industrial Manufacturing Technology Winter Quarter 2000, with eight students enrolled, and in the following academic year offered AAT degrees in Accounting, Computer Information Systems, Early Childhood Care and Education, Funeral Services Education, Health Information Technology, Healthcare Management Technology, Marketing Management, Opticianry, and Secretarial Science.

House Bill 1187, known as the A + Education Reform Act, enacted in 2000, changed the names of technical institutes in Georgia to technical colleges.
On July 6th of that year, Ogeechee Technical Institute officially became Ogeechee Technical College. Ogeechee Tech awarded its first AAT degree in December 2000 in Early Childhood Care and Education.  During the summer of 2002, Ogeechee Tech opened the Evans County Learning Center.

Student growth continued at Ogeechee Tech due largely to the addition of new programs, many of which are unique to DTAE, the state, and the region. These distinctive programs included certificate, diploma, and degrees in technical areas such as Funeral Service Education, Forensic Science Technology, and Opticianry.  With the opening of the Occupational Studies Building in Fall 2003, a wider variety of programs, such as Agribusiness, Wildlife and Plantation Management, Geographical Information Systems Technology, Veterinary Technology, Culinary Arts, and Hotel, Restaurant & Tourism Management, enabled the college to further expand its offerings.

In 2004, Ogeechee Tech paid tribute to the late Senator Joseph E. Kennedy for his role in the establishment of Ogeechee Technical Institute by dedicating the main building on campus as the Joseph F. Kennedy Building.

Ogeechee Tech was established to develop the existing and future workforce needs of the communities of Bulloch, Evans, Screven, and surrounding counties.  As a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, Ogeechee Tech continues to exist as a key player in the economic development of these communities.