For 20 years, Shorter University has been educating adults across Northwest Georgia, enabling them to earn degrees that benefit them for life.

It was in October of 1992 that Shorter University first opened the door if its College of Adult Professional Programs, graduating thousands of students in its associate, bachelor and master degree programs.

Today Shorter offers adult learners accelerated degree programs at four campuses: Gwinnett, North Atlanta, Riverdale and Rome.

Heath Mitchell of Gordon County said earning his adult degree from Shorter was life changing.

“I now have a Master’s degree from a highly respected university, and nobody can ever take that away from me,” said Mitchell, chief of police for Nelson, Ga. “Professionally, I would think that I’m more sought after in the career field. Now I have a degree that most every profession is requiring for employment or advancement. It’s a good feeling when you can meet all the ‘preferred’ qualifications of a job announcement instead of the ‘minimum’ qualifications.”

For Mitchell, his Shorter degree program also brought unexpected benefits.

“My best experience with Shorter has been the interaction with the study groups throughout the program. Not just my own study group but the entire class became like family,” said Mitchell. “We took care of each other, and we wanted everybody to finish the program as a whole.”

For the university, the expansion of its adult degree programs has brought more students and alumni into the Shorter family.

“It wasn’t too long ago that higher education was nearly the exclusive purview of those 18 to 22 years old,” said Shorter University President Donald Dowless. “Our College of Adult and Professional Programs opened the doors of academia to adults of all ages.”