Gainesville State College was a state college of the University System of Georgia serving northeast Georgia. The Gainesville State College Gainesville Campus, located 45 miles northeast of Atlanta and six miles southwest of downtown Gainesville in Oakwood, was on Georgia State Route 53 less than a mile from I-985 exit 16. The Gainesville State College Oconee Campus was located on Bishop Farms Parkway in Watkinsville, Georgia. Students were drawn primarily from the increasingly diverse northeast Georgia area.