Our Mission: NEVER STOP GROWING Senior University of Greater Atlanta (SUGA) provides seniors 55 and older with mind-expanding classes, travel, and social opportunities. This long established 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Metro Atlanta and serves to enhance the lives of seniors for a reasonable annual membership fee.
Our History Senior University of Greater Atlanta (SUGA) began in 1979 on the Emory University Campus and was first known as Emory Senior University. It began with 35 students and offered a varied curriculum consisting of four classes per quarter on Mondays and Wednesdays.
In 1986 our organization moved from Emory to Mercer University. Because of our increased growth in membership, we decided in 2016 that we had outgrown our meeting space at Mercer and needed to make a change. Consequently, we broke our ties to Mercer University and incorporated as Senior University of Greater Atlanta, Inc. becoming a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. We now lease classroom space from a local church just outside the I-285/Lawrenceville Highway Exit. This move gave SUGA plenty of classroom space, general parking, handicap parking, accessible classrooms, and a large general meeting/visiting area when in-person classes are conducted. Since 2021, we have expanded even further by offering classes via Zoom.
Our Instructors All SUGA instructors are outstanding professional, volunteer, or self-taught experts in their field of presentation. There are NO TESTS and NO PAPERS. All you have to do is listen, learn, and experience topics of interest or introduce yourself to topics you had no idea you would find interesting and expand your horizons. Just relax, listen, and learn. Examples of courses are: Literature, Drawing, Architectural Design, Geology, Photography, Opera, Mythology, History, Current Events, etc. Our Curriculum Committee is always striving to select a variety of professionally presented course topics each quarter.
Our School Year Each school year consists of four quarters – winter, spring, summer, and fall. Each quarter lasts eight weeks, except for the summer which is six weeks long. The year runs from January 1-December 31.
Our Membership Fees Nominal membership fees are paid yearly. A one-time fee covers a full school year of SUGA classes (January – December). Membership fees are determined by our SUGA Board of Directors. For more information on Membership, please visit our Membership page.
Our Classes SUGA was not sidelined by COVID-19 and we have made adjustments to meet the needs and concerns of our 300+ members who love learning, keeping current, and socializing. To achieve this, our organization adjusted by presenting our classes via Zoom and adding even more classes on more weekdays. Classes will be conducted via Zoom each week on Tuesday and Thursdays, and In-Person on Wednesdays and Fridays. To see our current offerings, please visit our Courses page.
SUGA does not promote, recommend or endorse any product, service of activity other than its educational offerings or activities approved by the Day Trip Committee or Board of Directors.
