The Board of Regents Wednesday approved a plan to eliminate more than 250 associate degree programs in the university system that duplicate offerings in nearby technical colleges. The move follows an agreement between the state's university system and the Technical College System of Georgia to minimize overlap and redundancy between the two systems.

The majority of the programs to be cut are associate of applied sciences degrees, which state officials say more closely fall under the mission of the state's technical colleges.

Many of the cut programs, which were introduced before the technical college system was accredited, exist on the books but have not enrolled students in many years. State officials say the cuts will help the state universities to focus their resources on efforts to improve college completion rates.

Among the schools losing degree programs are Georgia Perimeter College, Gainesville State College, East Georgia College and Georgia Southwestern State University.

Tags: regents, Duplicate Degrees, Elimination