Where North Atlanta’s Class of 2024 Went to College

Kennesaw State University was the leading Georgia college destination for Class of 2024 graduates at 11 of the 24 North Atlanta public high schools examined by North Atlanta Star. Georgia State University led at six more.

The University of Georgia drew the largest in-state group from Lambert, South Forsyth and Dunwoody high schools. The University of North Georgia led at four Forsyth County schools, giving the county several distinct college enrollment patterns within one school system.

The comparison uses Georgia’s High School Graduate Outcomes data, which track enrollment in the year after high school graduation. The Class of 2024 is the most recent graduating class in the state’s downloadable first-year outcomes files as of Oct. 31, 2026.

How to read the school comparisons

Each table gives a school’s three leading in-state colleges, in order, with the number of graduates enrolled at each. The final column shows the percentage of the entire graduating class recorded at an out-of-state college or university.

UGA refers to the University of Georgia, UNG to the University of North Georgia, and Georgia Tech to the Georgia Institute of Technology. The comparison covers 24 selected traditional public high schools across five counties. It is a selection of schools serving North Atlanta communities, rather than a complete regional inventory.

Forsyth County: UGA, Georgia State and UNG lead at different schools

Lambert’s largest in-state group went to UGA: 168 graduates, followed by 85 at Georgia State and 57 at Kennesaw State. South Forsyth also sent its largest group to UGA, with 117, followed by Georgia Tech with 55.

Denmark’s leading destination was Georgia State, with 94 graduates. UNG led at East Forsyth, Forsyth Central, North Forsyth and West Forsyth. Lanier Technical College appeared among the top three at East Forsyth, Forsyth Central and North Forsyth.

High school	Top three Georgia colleges (enrollments)	Out-of-state enrollment
Denmark	Georgia State (94) UGA (80) UNG (58)	14.1%
East Forsyth	UNG (59) Lanier Tech (32) Kennesaw State (28)	7.7%
Forsyth Central	UNG (79) Kennesaw State (56) Lanier Tech (44)	9.9%
Lambert	UGA (168) Georgia State (85) Kennesaw State (57)	20.7%
North Forsyth	UNG (99) Kennesaw State (41) Lanier Tech (32)	11.6%
South Forsyth	UGA (117) Georgia Tech (55) UNG (53)	19.5%
West Forsyth	UNG (104) Kennesaw State (71) UGA (51)	15.4%

North Fulton: Kennesaw State leads at five of seven schools

Kennesaw State was the leading Georgia destination at Centennial, Chattahoochee, Johns Creek, Milton and Roswell. Georgia State led at Alpharetta and Northview.

Johns Creek had the largest out-of-state enrollment share among the 24 schools in this comparison, at 30.7% of its graduating class. Milton followed at 28.3%, while Roswell and Northview each had roughly a quarter of graduates enrolled outside Georgia.

High school	Top three Georgia colleges (enrollments)	Out-of-state enrollment
Alpharetta	Georgia State (82) Kennesaw State (67) UGA (38)	22.7%
Centennial	Kennesaw State (58) Georgia State (55) UGA (25)	16.0%
Chattahoochee	Kennesaw State (79) Georgia State (71) UGA (36)	20.7%
Johns Creek	Kennesaw State (53) Georgia State (48) UGA (36)	30.7%
Milton	Kennesaw State (70) UGA (41) Georgia State (38)	28.3%
Northview	Georgia State (68) Kennesaw State (48) UGA (46)	25.1%
Roswell	Kennesaw State (60) UGA (38) Georgia College & State (37)	25.4%

Gwinnett County: a one-student difference at North Gwinnett

North Gwinnett’s two leading Georgia destinations were almost even: 91 graduates enrolled at Georgia State and 90 at Kennesaw State. UGA followed with 69.

Georgia State also led at Duluth and Peachtree Ridge. At Peachtree Ridge, 137 graduates enrolled at Georgia State and 83 at Georgia Gwinnett College. Kennesaw State was the leading in-state destination at Lanier and Norcross.

High school	Top three Georgia colleges (enrollments)	Out-of-state enrollment
Duluth	Georgia State (84) Kennesaw State (62) Georgia Gwinnett (56)	5.6%
Lanier	Kennesaw State (46) UNG (42) Georgia State (28)	11.0%
Norcross	Kennesaw State (60) Georgia State (36) UGA (26)	8.0%
North Gwinnett	Georgia State (91) Kennesaw State (90) UGA (69)	16.5%
Peachtree Ridge	Georgia State (137) Georgia Gwinnett (83) Kennesaw State (79)	10.9%

Cherokee County: Kennesaw State leads all four schools reviewed

Kennesaw State led at Cherokee, Creekview, Sequoyah and Woodstock. Woodstock had 114 graduates enrolled there, while Cherokee had 105. Chattahoochee Technical College placed among the top three Georgia destinations at all four schools.

High school	Top three Georgia colleges (enrollments)	Out-of-state enrollment
Cherokee	Kennesaw State (105) Chattahoochee Tech (60) UNG (23)	9.2%
Creekview	Kennesaw State (78) UNG (51) Chattahoochee Tech (39)	12.9%
Sequoyah	Kennesaw State (93) Chattahoochee Tech (50) UNG (38)	11.3%
Woodstock	Kennesaw State (114) Chattahoochee Tech (40) UGA (26)	11.7%

Dunwoody: UGA is the leading Georgia destination

Dunwoody High School’s top three were UGA, with 72 graduates; Georgia State, with 53; and Kennesaw State, with 48. Out-of-state college enrollment accounted for 15.6% of its graduating class.

What the figures measure

The rankings describe recorded enrollment during the first year after graduation. Under the state’s calculation rules, students who attend more than one institution are assigned to one college for this comparison, beginning with their first term of enrollment and applying additional rules when needed.

The out-of-state percentages use all graduates as the denominator, including graduates who went directly to work or whose subsequent status was unknown. A school’s remaining percentage therefore includes more than students attending college in Georgia. Different graduating-class sizes also affect the enrollment counts.

North Atlanta Star calculated the number of schools led by each college from the state’s published rankings. The 24-school selection includes seven schools in Forsyth County, seven in North Fulton, five in Gwinnett, four in Cherokee and Dunwoody in DeKalb. The underlying state data files are available to download as a ZIP archive.