Georgia Gwinnett College lobbies against funding cuts ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - Georgia Gwinnett College has grown by about 1500 students per year since it was created in 2006.

That high growth rate is now in danger because of state budget cuts.

Jonathan Shapiro has the story.

Georgia Gwinnett College President Daniel Kaufman is lobbying the General Assembly to leave its budget alone.

Because it's a start-up, the college relies on the state for 75 percent of its funding - more than twice the percentage of other Georgia schools.

KAUFMAN: We don't have other sources of revenue available to established colleges, primarily research grants and endowments, because we're new and we just got accredited.

The state has already cut Georgia Gwinnett's budget by 8 percent this year and Kaufman says he's simply looking to avoid additional cuts.

KAUFMAN: As we grow and pay the start up costs we will outgrow this need eventually, but we're expecting 5,000 students on campus in August so we're going to need that funding stream.

Kaufman says the college plans to hire 90 more professors to accommodate next year's incoming class.

State lawmakers must pass the 2010 and 2011 budgets by the end of the legislative session in March.

For WABE News, I'm Jonathan Shapiro. © Copyright 2012, WABE