The Georgia Board of Regents has approved a resolution accepting a controversial plan for the Medical College of Georgia to expand in multiple cities throughout the state.
The vote serves as a formal endorsement of the plan, which calls for MCG to increase its student body by 60 percent by 2020.
The plan would expand MCG to other cities simultaneously.
That includes a new satellite campus in Athens, in partnership with the University of Georgia.
The proposed Athens campus has caused controversy, with lawmakers in eastern Georgia calling for expansion to happen at the main campus in Augusta first.
While MCG can now move ahead, the plan must ultimately pass muster with the state legislature, which would approve any funding for expansion.
The state is facing a shortage of doctors. Officials hope the proposed expansion will keep more of them in Georgia.
The vote serves as a formal endorsement of the plan, which calls for MCG to increase its student body by 60 percent by 2020.
The plan would expand MCG to other cities simultaneously.
That includes a new satellite campus in Athens, in partnership with the University of Georgia.
The proposed Athens campus has caused controversy, with lawmakers in eastern Georgia calling for expansion to happen at the main campus in Augusta first.
While MCG can now move ahead, the plan must ultimately pass muster with the state legislature, which would approve any funding for expansion.
The state is facing a shortage of doctors. Officials hope the proposed expansion will keep more of them in Georgia.
