The Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG) needed a scalable platform to ensure learners across all 22 colleges could easily access the courses required for timely completion, regardless of location.
The system recently launched its TCSG Connect course sharing program with Ellucian Cross Registration and Ellucian Experience as its core technological foundation.
- Ellucian Cross Registration expands statewide access to high-demand courses by allowing students to self-register for shared classes through their home-college interface.
- Ellucian Experience enables TCSG to replace a multi-step process with a unified, automated registration experience that streamlines cross-institution enrollment.
- TCSG is leveraging the platform to broaden instructional capacity, improve operational efficiency, and support faster student progress across its entire system.
colleges sharing courses with Cross Registration
shared courses offered at systemwide launch
students enrolled at systemwide launch
"The core driver behind all this is expanding access. We didn't want students limited by geography."
The Technical College System of Georgia serves students and communities across Georgia with 22 colleges offering hundreds of programs that power the state’s workforce. In line with Georgia's "Top State for Talent" initiative, TCSG's strategic priorities center on expanding access, enhancing flexibility, and ensuring that all learners, particularly those in rural areas, can progress in their professional training without geographic barriers.
"We're in a time of record-breaking enrollment, already showing projections to be up another 8–10 percent year-over-year," said Dr. Deona Carter, Executive Director of Georgia Online Learning and Development. "So keeping up with student demand is essential."
TCSG rolled out its statewide eCampus in 2021 as a learning platform that enabled colleges to offer shared courses through a common online infrastructure. The program immediately expanded class availability, accounting for roughly 2% of TCSG's course offerings at its peak, but manual course-sharing practices generated friction for staff and students.
Recently the system sunset eCampus and launched TCSG Connect, powered by Ellucian Cross Registration and Ellucian Experience, as its systemwide course-sharing model of the future. Rather than search multiple platforms for the classes they need, students can now shop, locate, and easily enroll in courses across the TCSG system through a single pane.
"Before, a student had to apply at another college, take the course, retrieve transcripts, and have them evaluated," Carter said. "Now, technology handles that. The student remains enrolled at their home institution, where they're comfortable and where their financial aid is processed."
A Unified, Automated Approach to Course Sharing
Ellucian Cross Registration enables students to view and register for shared courses through the same interface used for all other enrollment activities at their home school. It operates within the mobile-friendly Ellucian Experience platform to create a single, unified user experience. "Students enroll at one of our 22 colleges, and the shared courses are visible to them exactly like any other course," Carter said. "We know on the technology side that they're entering another college's LMS (Learning Management System), but students don't see that—they're simply registering for classes."
Cross Registration also automates complex work once handled by staff, including enrollment verification, credit evaluation, and institutional data exchange. The platform supports asynchronous, synchronous, hybrid, and face-to-face modalities, allowing institutions to collaborate and share instructional capacity in ways that were previously impractical.
"We're truly sharing resources across institutions, not creating a separate online university," Carter said. "Course sharing has benefits. A faculty member whose local course has only five students can avoid cancellation by sharing it, filling the roster, and maintaining course viability."
Expanding Systemwide Access
TCSG piloted its Connect model with four institutions before scaling to all 22 colleges. The new system is now operational across the state of Georgia, offering more than 120 shared courses and successfully enrolling over 100 students to date heading into its first live semester. According to Carter, students benefit from simplified navigation and uninterrupted enrollment at their home institution, enabling them to progress through programs more efficiently. As systemwide enrollment and graduation rates reach record highs, the cross-registration model also contributes to ensuring that students are not delayed by unavailable courses or local instructional constraints.
"The core driver behind all this is expanding access," Carter said. "We didn't want students limited by geography. A student in North Georgia shouldn't need to move to Atlanta to pursue aviation. Smaller rural campuses shouldn't need to hire specialized faculty they can't afford. Course sharing solves that. Georgia State has studied our work, specifically its impact on rural learners, and early findings show we are making an impact."
Scaling Quality Course Offerings
With all 22 colleges joining TCSG Connect, the system plans next to shift its focus from scaling technology to enabling course success. Dr. Carter has restructured her division to evaluate courses, analyze outcomes, and reinforce excellence across shared offerings.
"We want Georgia to remain the gold standard as other systems begin adopting similar models," Carter said. "Any course could someday be shared, so every course should be exceptional."
The system also aims to build on its close partnership with Ellucian to continually refine TCSG Connect's statewide digital infrastructure and stay at the cutting edge of innovation.
"Ellucian have been amazing partners, listening, applying what they can, and explaining what they can't," Carter said. "That's invaluable when you're trying to innovate."
