The recession’s prolonged impact has given state higher education leaders the chance to consider ideas that would be nonstarters in a better economy, like the proposed consolidation of eight public institutions in Georgia, which was announced Thursday.
The University System of Georgia’s plan would merge four pairs of institutions, reducing the number of colleges in the system to 31 (see factbox). None of the campuses would close under the proposal, but a varying range of administrative operations will be combined and jobs will likely be cut, system officials said.
