Technical Education

Moultrie Tech - Turner County Campus is the primary technical-vocational school for Turner County. The new facility offers a wide variety of courses. They can tailor a training program to meet any company's need as well as perform training on-site. Located inside the Turner County Industrial Complex, the campus provides easy access to quick-start and OJT training.

Albany Technical Institute:
Located in Albany, Albany Tech's enrollment is approximately 1,300, offering a range of technical education and training.

East Central Technical Institute:
East Central Tech, located in Fitzgerald, has an enrollment of approximately 800. A wide variety of study courses is offered as well as an off-campus program which allows students to gain valuable hands-on training with local businesses and manufacturers.

South Georgia Technical Institute:
South Georgia Tech is located in Americus. Enrollment is approximately 2,200. It offers a wide range of technical courses of study.

Quick Start

Quick Start, a Georgia program to aid new industries and train their employees is administered by East Central Technical Institute. Under this program, the state of Georgia pays for screening, hiring, and training of the workers, using curricula developed jointly by Quick Start specialists and the new or expanding industry .Workers may be trained on equipment owned by the state or on equipment loaded by the business either for in-depth pre-employment training in a skill, or in short courses designed to help workers upgrade skills and acquire new skills.

Private Industry Council (PIC)

Controlled locally by an area-wide Board of Directors, an on-the-job training program is available to Turner County area employers under the federally funded Job Training Partnership Act. The PIC program is designed to provide skills to those who lack them and allow local employers to train new employees in their method of operation with an overall goal of pre-training the trainee as a productive employee after training is completed. The employer selects as many trainees as needed from those qualified and sent by the PIC office. The employer retains the final hiring and termination authority. The employer's customary personnel policies ally equally to employees being trained under the PIC program as they do any other employee The employer is reimbursed for as much as 50% of the hourly rate of the trainee during the

Public Schools

The Turner County Board of Education operates 2 county public schools.

Turner County schools have a staff of 18 administrators, 3 guidance counselors, and 159 teachers, 54.3% of who have advanced degrees. All certified personnel received local salary supplements and participated regularly in local staff development programs. The system pays a portion of health insurance premiums and teacher retirement.

Lunch programs are available at both schools. Approximately 86% participate and 65% are served free; 14% bring their lunch.

Area Colleges

Abraham Baldwin College (ABAC):
The largest junior college in the University System of Georgia, located 20 minutes south of Ashburn, in Tifton. ABAC has an enrollment of approximately 3000 students. It is both a commuter and residential college with a diverse curriculum. Associate, Bachelor, and some Master programs are offered.

Albany State University:
A senior college of the University System of Georgia, located 45 minutes from Ashburn, in Albany. Enrollment is approximately 3,200. The college offers a variety of degrees in most areas of study.

Darton College:
A junior college in the University System, located 45 minutes away in Albany. Darton has an enrollment of approximately 2,700. Darton is a commuter college; it has no on campus housing.

Fort Valley State University:
A senior college in the University System, located 79 miles north of Ashburn in Fort Valley. Its enrollment is approximately 2,700. Fort Valley offers degrees in most areas of study.

Georgia Southwestern College:
A senior college of the University System, located in Americus, one hour away from Ashburn. Enrollment is approximately 2,800. Georgia Southwestern offers a variety of degrees in most areas of study.

Middle Georgia College:
A junior college in the University System, located one hour northeast of Ashburn in Cochran. Middle Georgia has an enrollment of 2000..

Valdosta State University:
Given university status in 1993, VSU is located 60 minutes south of Ashburn in Valdosta. Enrollment is approximately 8,000. VSU offers degrees in most areas of study.