Among the region’s private institutions of higher learning are Emory University (1836); Agnes Scott College (1889); the Cecil B. Day Campus of Mercer University, originally established as Atlanta Baptist College in 1969; Oglethorpe University (1835); and the Atlanta University Center, the largest consortium of black colleges and universities in the nation, comprised of Spelman College (1881), Morris Brown College (1881), Morehouse College (1867), Clark Atlanta University (combined in 1988), the Interdenominational Theological Center (1958)and the Morehouse School of Medicine (1981). Publicly supported colleges include Georgia Institute of Technology (1885) and Georgia State University (1913).

Prominent cultural and historical institutions in the city include the High Museum of Art (1983), designed by the noted postmodern American architect Richard Meier; the Atlanta Symphony; the Atlanta History Center, which maintains a history museum, historic houses and gardens, and extensive library and archives; Nexus Contemporary Art Center; the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center; the Apex Museum; the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University; the Clark Atlanta University Art Gallery; Fernbank Science Center; and the Carter Presidential Center, a library-museum dedicated to the presidency of Jimmy Carter, the 39th president of the United States.