AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – On Wednesday, Augusta University President Brooks Keel gave his final State of the University address.

Keel is retiring this summer.

In the address, Keel highlighted past and present accomplishments.

He mentioned things like the largest freshman class ever with 10,000 students, the Wellstar MCG Health partnership, the new statewide transfer program for cybersecurity degrees and the 35% increase in academic programs since 2015.

The university also seen a 32% increase in degrees awarded since 2015.

Keel says it’s not just his final State of the University address. It’s his best one yet because it’s the most they have ever accomplished.

It’s an address that is bittersweet.

“We are sad that Dr. Keel is leaving. He’s just such a nice guy. He has guided the ship through name changes, through difficult times. But the one thing that his legacy will be is that he has set us up for the future,” said Angel Lovett, director of parent and family engagement.

It’s also a time to celebrate everything they’ve added.

“The name change, the building of the math and science, getting us a new parking deck, the new dorms,” said Lovett.

Russell Keen, executive vice president for administration and chief of staff, said: “If you look at where we were in 2015 to where we are today, it’s a remarkably different institution with remarkable support from the campus and the community.”

At a time when enrollment is tough for lots of universities, AU saw an increase.

“The five years prior to him getting here, it decreased 3% every year. And so, if you look at where we are this year, we’ve increased 27% in our enrollment over the last nine years, which is huge,” said Keen.

Keel has just 46 days left at the university before his retirement. He says he is excited to continue to watch the university grow.

“Thank you all so much for what you do day in and day out to make this place. You have a lot to be proud of, because of these folks sitting to your left and your right. We look forward to following this place from afar and watching the great progress that you make. So, thank you so much, and one more time, Go Jags,” said Keel.

While talking about what’s in store for the university, Keel signed off saying the future is bright for Augusta University.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Paine College has announced it is suspending benefits for its employees.

The college issued a statement on Wednesday surrounding the changes in health and medical benefits.

“Due to rising costs of maintaining health benefits for employees, the college decided to pursue a more cost-effective provider,” said Paine College in a statement.

The college says they were unable to reach a viable agreement with its recent provider which resulted in cancellation of coverage.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused our employees,” said President Dr. Cheryl Evans Jones. “We are currently negotiating with insurance carriers in search of a lower-cost provider. It is our intent to resolve this matter expeditiously and restore affordable health and medical benefits for our employees.”

The college says vision and dental coverage remain active.

“We are committed to the well-being of our employees and keeping the lines of communication open as we navigate through this process,” said Jones. “I would like to express my sincere appreciation to our employees for their dedication and cooperation during this time.”

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AUGUSTA, Ga. – Students again will have to take standardized tests like the ACT or SAT for admission to Augusta University starting in the fall of 2026.

The Georgia Board of Regents on Tuesday voted to again start requiring the tests at AU, Georgia State University, Georgia Southern University and Kennesaw State University.

Test requirements had already been restored for the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia College and State University, the system’s three most selective schools.

An increasing number of colleges nationwide are restoring testing requirements – many of which were dropped during the COVID pandemic – including elite schools such as Harvard, Yale and MIT, as well as public institutions including the University of Tennessee system.

Tests have never been required at many of Georgia’s nine state colleges, intended to be the least selective of the state’s four tiers of schools. But they had long been required for admission to the state’s 17 public universities until the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

HAPPENING TODAY:

• Augusta University President Brooks Keel will give his final State of the University address at 2 p.m. He’s retiring this summer.

With testing services unable to guarantee the exams would be available, the system suspended testing requirements, instead admitting students based only on high school grades. Students who submit optional tests may be admitted with lower grades.

Under the new policy, other schools can require a test score starting fall 2026, but are not mandated to require one.

Chancellor Sonny Perdue has long said he believes tests plus high school grades are a better predictor of college success than grades alone.

“The standardized testing will be a great instrument for us to determine the strengths and weaknesses of every student coming in,” Perdue told regents Tuesday at a meeting in Atlanta.

Regents had previously discussed imposing testing requirements in the fall of 2025, but leaders of some of the affected universities say another year will give them more time to adjust.

The system had moved to reimpose testing requirements in fall 2022, but found that applications fell, and that many students didn’t finish their applications for lack of a test score. That year, University System of Georgia officials blamed the test requirement, before it was dropped, for causing a shortfall in applications.

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