History of the College
On July 1, 2009, Chattahoochee Technical College came into being from the merger of three previously independent units of the Technical College System of Georgia – Appalachian Technical College, Chattahoochee Technical College, and North Metro Technical College.
Appalachian Technical College, established in 1967 as Pickens Area Vocational Technical School in Jasper, GA, served Cherokee, Fannin, Gilmer, and Pickens counties. In 1988, the school changed its name to Pickens Technical Institute as Georgia established the Department of Technical and Adult Education, which gathered all the vocational-technical schools under one governing board for the state.
North Metro Technical College was established in 1989 as one of the first institutions created under the direction of the new Department of Technical and Adult Education. Originally named North Metro Technical Institute, the college was located in Acworth, GA, and officially served Bartow and north Cobb counties, but was also positioned to serve the populations in Cherokee and Paulding counties.
Chattahoochee Technical College, established in 1961 as Marietta/Cobb Area Vocational Technical School, served Cobb and Paulding counties with its main campus in Marietta, GA. In 1988, with the formation of the Department of Technical and Adult Education, the school adopted the name of Chattahoochee Technical Institute, and through legislation in 2000, all technical institutes were re-named to technical colleges.
In 2008, the Department of Technical and Adult Education officially adopted a new name - the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) - to reflect a coordinated system, integrating the educational efforts of the public technical colleges throughout the state. At this same time, the TCSG analyzed the feasibility and advantages of merging a number of its then 33 technical colleges - as an organizational and economic decision. The proximity of the three colleges in northern central Georgia led to a decision to merge. Thus, representatives from the Boards of Directors of the three colleges decided to adopt Chattahoochee Technical College as the name for the new entity. Through the naming of campuses, the former college names are also retained as a reminder of the robust history and melding of these three established institutions.
Now, with a combined service area of six counties (Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Gilmer, Paulding, and Pickens) and with eight campuses and online offerings, Chattahoochee Technical College serves approximately 20,000 credit students annually.