The Best Associate's in Accounting in Georgia for 2026

Wiregrass Georgia Technical College's Accounting AAS (program code AC13) runs 5 terms across a 64-credit-hour curriculum, offered at the Valdosta campus and online. The sequence moves from ACCT 1100 and ACCT 1105 Financial Accounting through ACCT 2000 Managerial Accounting, then into ACCT 1115 Computerized Accounting, ACCT 1120 Spreadsheet Applications, ACCT 1125 Individual Tax Accounting, and ACCT 1130 Payroll Accounting. The program page states that ACCT 1100, 1105, and 2000 transfer as a block to South Georgia State College, counting as equivalents for that school's ACCT 2101 and ACCT 2102.

Wiregrass graduates 50% of accounting AAS students, per IPEDS data, ahead of Central Georgia's 47% but behind Southern Crescent's 58% and Oconee Fall Line's 65%. Tuition holds at the same $2,568 in-state and $5,136 out-of-state rate as the rest of Georgia's top four 2026 programs. College-wide enrollment is 4,466, and its 87.7 Hakia Score is the lowest of the four ranked schools. It fits a student targeting a named transfer pathway into a four-year business degree, since the AAS core courses are pre-mapped rather than left to a general transfer review.

Wiregrass's own program outcomes point graduates toward bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerk roles, billing clerk, payroll technician, and entry-level tax preparer positions, entry points that feed the broader accounting and auditing field the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook tracks nationally at a $54,920 median wage. That figure is a national benchmark, not a Wiregrass-specific outcome, and a two-year AAS alone doesn't meet the 150-credit-hour coursework threshold most states require for CPA licensure.

Coastal Pines Technical College's Accounting AAS (program code AC13) is a 64-credit-hour associate degree offered at both the Jesup and Waycross campuses. The occupational core runs financial accounting, managerial accounting, computerized accounting, individual tax accounting, and payroll accounting, plus a required ACCT 1120 Spreadsheet Applications course and 9 credits of accounting electives. Admission requires a completed application, a high school diploma or equivalent, and passing the college's placement test.

The program carries a Hakia Score of 87.6, the 5th-highest among Georgia's associate accounting programs in this ranking. Its 48% graduation rate sits mid-pack for the state's technical colleges. Tuition is $2,568 a year in-state versus $5,136 out-of-state, exactly double, so this program fits Georgia residents near Waycross or Jesup who want a low-cost AAS heavy on tax, payroll, and computerized accounting rather than a four-year business degree.

Atlanta Technical College houses its Accounting associate degree inside a broader Business Programs division alongside Business Management, Business Technology, and Marketing & Entrepreneurship. The accounting curriculum covers financial accounting, managerial accounting, cost accounting, budget control, tax accounting, legal aspects of accounting, auditing, reporting procedures, statement analysis, business information systems, and accounting research methods, with professional standards and ethics built in throughout. The college lists Evening/Weekend Programs, Dual Enrollment, and Online Learning as delivery options for its business programs.

Atlanta Tech posts a Hakia Score of 87.4, ranking 6th among Georgia's associate accounting programs, and a 49% graduation rate, the highest of the four schools profiled here. Tuition runs $2,568 in-state against $5,136 out-of-state, and enrollment of 4,498 students is the largest of this group. That mix of scale, completion, and evening, weekend, or online scheduling fits working adults and dual-enrollment high schoolers in metro Atlanta more than a traditional daytime-only student.

Georgia Piedmont Technical College's Accounting AAS (AC13) in Clarkston follows the same 15-credit general education core used across Georgia's technical college system: Composition and Rhetoric, one social science course (Economics, World or U.S. History, American Government, Psychology, or Sociology), one math course (Quantitative Skills, College Algebra, or Precalculus), one humanities course (Art Appreciation, American Literature, Introduction to Humanities, Music Appreciation, or World Religions), plus a general education elective drawn from science and math options like Biology, Chemistry, or Statistics.

The program earns a Hakia Score of 81.9, ranking 7th in this Georgia list, with a 44% graduation rate and enrollment of 3,282 students, the smallest of the four schools profiled here. In-state tuition is $2,586 a year, marginally above the $2,568 charged at the other three schools, and out-of-state students pay $5,136. It fits students in the Clarkston/DeKalb corridor who want elective flexibility across four general education subject areas before moving into accounting coursework.

Savannah Technical College's Accounting Associate Degree trains students as accounting paraprofessionals: maintaining books for business entities, account classifications, subsidiary record accounting, fixed and intangible assets, current and long-term liabilities, and partnership and corporate accounting. The managerial side covers financial statement analysis, job costing, cost-volume-profit analysis, budgeting, capital investment analysis, payroll, computerized accounting systems, spreadsheet applications, and income tax preparation. The college also offers an Accounting Diploma and short-term certificates (TCCs) as stackable steps toward the associate degree.

Savannah Tech's Hakia Score of 81.3 ranks 8th on this Georgia list, with a 42% graduation rate, the lowest of the four programs profiled here, and enrollment of 3,942 students. In-state tuition is $2,568 a year versus $5,136 out-of-state, exactly double. The stackable certificate-to-diploma-to-associate ladder fits students who want to enter paraprofessional accounting work quickly and finish the AAS later, rather than committing to two years upfront.

Athens Technical College is a public institution in Athens, GA. Its Associate's in Accounting program ranks #9 of the 12 analyzed here with an 81.2 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 84.6 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 51% of its students, above the 48% average across the ranked schools. Athens Technical College holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. Its completion rate lands in the middle of the pack in a group where graduation runs from 39% to 65%.

On cost, Athens Technical College charges $2,568 a year in-state, roughly 2.0x the $5,136 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $5,136 in tuition for residents, against $10,272 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $2,568 at Southern Crescent Technical College to $2,586 at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. The spread makes the program a clearer value for GA residents than for out-of-state students. Graduates step into a field with a $54,920 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with above-average completion.

Ogeechee Technical College is a public institution in Statesboro, GA. Its Associate's in Accounting program ranks #10 of the 12 analyzed here with an 81.0 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 84.6 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 43% of its students, below the 48% average across the ranked schools. Ogeechee Technical College holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 39% to 65%.

On cost, Ogeechee Technical College charges $2,568 a year in-state, roughly 2.0x the $5,136 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $5,136 in tuition for residents, against $10,272 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $2,568 at Southern Crescent Technical College to $2,586 at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. The spread makes the program a clearer value for GA residents than for out-of-state students. Graduates step into a field with a $54,920 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with an online option.

Albany Technical College is a public institution in Albany, GA. Its Associate's in Accounting program ranks #11 of the 12 analyzed here with a 78.7 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 84.6 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 42% of its students, below the 48% average across the ranked schools. Albany Technical College holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 39% to 65%.

On cost, Albany Technical College charges $2,568 a year in-state, roughly 2.0x the $5,136 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $5,136 in tuition for residents, against $10,272 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $2,568 at Southern Crescent Technical College to $2,586 at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. The spread makes the program a clearer value for GA residents than for out-of-state students. Graduates step into a field with a $54,920 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with an online option.

North Georgia Technical College is a public institution in Clarkesville, GA. Its Associate's in Accounting program ranks #12 of the 12 analyzed here with a 75.8 Hakia Score, a composite of graduation rate, cost, selectivity, and graduate outcomes. That sits below the 84.6 group average, in the lower third of the 12 ranked programs. The program graduates 39% of its students, below the 48% average across the ranked schools. North Georgia Technical College holds an open-admission policy, accepting every qualified applicant. Its completion rate lands toward the lower end in a group where graduation runs from 39% to 65%.

On cost, North Georgia Technical College charges $2,568 a year in-state, roughly 2.0x the $5,136 out-of-state rate. Over two years that is about $5,136 in tuition for residents, against $10,272 for non-residents. That puts it among the most affordable on this list, where annual in-state tuition runs from $2,568 at Southern Crescent Technical College to $2,586 at Georgia Piedmont Technical College. The spread makes the program a clearer value for GA residents than for out-of-state students. Graduates step into a field with a $54,920 national median salary reported by the BLS. For prospective students, the draw here is low in-state cost paired with an online option.