MOST GEORGIANS know Sonny Perdue from his time as the state’s 81st governor from 2003 to 2011 and as the United States Secretary of Agriculture from 2017 to 2021. Today the former veterinarian may have his favorite job of his career: Since 2022 he’s served as the chancellor of the University System of Georgia (USG), leading 26 public higher education institutions around the state. “The trajectory of someone’s life, to a large degree, depends on their level of education. As we help people invest in themselves through education, it just increases their chances of personal prosperity, both for them and their family,” Perdue says. “When you see the graduation walks across the stages and the confidence these students have, it’s a thrill.” There’s lots to be proud of: In fiscal year 2024, the USG awarded an all-time high of 76,571 degrees. We spoke with Perdue to hear more.
Photograph by Audra Melton
How is the University System of Georgia preparing students for the evolving job market?
We don’t know what [the] jobs of the future are, that’s why we’re trying to prepare students for critical thinking, problem-solving, problem identification, and how to create and apply the knowledge that they’ve gained at a university to the public sector. It’s all about creating a talent pipeline. We do that through everything from certificates to PhD degrees. Some examples are in AI, but not just in our research institutions. For example, Middle Georgia State University is offering a BS in applied artificial intelligence this fall. That’s really going to help address [needs in] Georgia’s key economic sectors such as agriculture, aerospace, logistics, and healthcare. Georgia State University has a new AI master’s program. Logistics is a huge component of the Georgia economy, and our state colleges have formed a new cooperative academic arrangement in supply chain and logistics to address the job creation in those sectors. Finally, we know about the demand for nurses, and we are continuing to emphasize nursing recruitment and education. We’re proud of the quality of our NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination) pass rates and our approximately 95 percent graduate completion rate. Those are just some examples of how we’re preparing students for evolving job opportunities. I laughingly tell people that we want to graduate students with a “FIO” degree—that’s “figure it out.” That’s what we’re trying to teach students to do.
Did your former role as governor prepare you for your position as chancellor?
It gave me an appreciation for the organization. I respected the University System of Georgia as being constitutionally separate, although I was intimately involved in the funding. I think the budgeting and funding part was probably the best experience. I believe that the university system is really the power that drives the economy through talent. As governor, I learned that we had to have a talent flow that met the needs of the workplace in order to recruit companies to come here. That’s why the university system, as well as the technical college system, is so important.
How closely do you collaborate with the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG)?
When you focus on the student, it’s not competitive, it’s cooperative. We’re continually evaluating MOU articulation agreements [which facilitate the transfer of academic credits between educational institutions] with the TCSG in order to help students progress as far as they want. Some may start out not thinking they’d ever go to college, but they surprise themselves by becoming good students. They may get their associate degree [through TCSG] and want to continue. Some of them even wind up with PhDs. We are working for better transferability of credit hours into the university system.
What role do public universities play in supporting Georgia’s economy?
I’ll give you an example. When I was governor, from 2003 to 2011, various states were competing based on tax incentives and how many monetary benefits we could give. In the last few years, it’s turned into a talent competition. That’s where our higher education entities come into play. We’re the talent flow. If you ask these companies what the limiting factor is in their decisions, it’s always people and where they can get the talent. That’s why Georgia has been so successful in attracting companies; we’ve got major universities and even smaller universities turning out top talent that is easily recruited into those companies. We work with companies and the Georgia Department of Economic Development to put forth proposals about how we would work with those industries, allowing them to tailor specific kinds of courses or degrees that they need.
The cost of college is a hot-button issue. How is your team helping make it more affordable?
We’re proud of the university system’s responsibility and affordability. In fact, this past year was the seventh time in 10 years that the board has kept overall tuition fees flat for Georgia students across most of our institutions. According to data from the state auditor, since 2017, USG tuition has declined more than 24 percent after adjusting for inflation. Most people don’t realize that because they also count the cost of living, housing, and board in the cost of college. Much of [the reduction] is because of the special institution fee that was reduced by the legislature. It eliminated anywhere from $400 to over $1,000 tuition per year for students. We’re probably among the six lowest public systems in the country for tuition, and third in the [16] Southern Regional Education Board states.
How is the USG leveraging technology to help nontraditional students thrive?
We’ve got a large number of Georgians, probably over a million, who have some college but who have not completed a degree. That’s kind of sad, because you can’t put on a resume that you attended such-and-such college. Employers look for a graduation. So we’re reaching out to them. They typically have families and jobs where they can’t leave to come to campus. So we’re reaching them through online opportunities. We have over 11,000 online courses and about 439 fully online degree programs, ranging from associate to doctorate degrees. We have to meet people where they are.
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