[6] Two educators, Reverend Samuel Lane Loomis and his wife, sent Holley to Brainerd Institute and then Revere Lay College (Massachusetts).

With the help of a $2,600 gift from the Hazard family, Holley organized a board of trustees and purchased 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land for the campus, all within a year.

[7] In 1932, the school became part of the University System of Georgia and in 1943 it was granted four-year status and renamed Albany State College.

In July 1994, most of the campus was flooded and suffered extensive damage when Tropical Storm Alberto caused the Flint River to overflow.

In 2015, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced the merger of ASU and Darton State College.

The movement brought prominent civil rights leaders to the town including Martin Luther King Jr. and resulted in the arrests of more than 1,000 black protestors.

[14] On November 22, 1961, Blanton Hall and Bertha Gober entered the white waiting room of the Albany bus station to buy tickets home for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Albany State President William Dennis, fearful of losing his position, immediately suspended and eventually expelled the students.

Bernice Johnson Reagon, another Albany State student who left school to work with the SNCC, would later form the well-known a cappella group Sweet Honey in the Rock.

He was succeeded by Aaron Brown (1943–1954), William Dennis (1954–1965), Thomas Miller Jenkins (1965–1969), Charles Hayes (1969–1980), Billy C. Black (1980–1996), Portia Holmes Shields (1996–2005), Everette J. Freeman (2005 – 2013), Art Dunning (2015-2018), and Marion Ross Fedrick (2018-).

The Holley Institute summer program, which consists of an intense four weeks of study to help high school students improve low SAT scores and gain admission to college, has a near 100 percent success rate and has received praise from the state Board of Regents.

ASU also has a center in Cordele and provides specific courses at sites in Cairo, Waycross, Thomasville, Swainsboro, and Sandersville.

In 2012, the danceline was invited to appear in the "Give It 2 U" music video and a live televised performance with artists Robin Thicke, Kendrick Lamar, and 2 Chainz.

[21] Albany State University holds membership in NCAA Division II (as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) and participates in the following sports: football, basketball, baseball, golf, cheerleading, volleyball, cross-country and track and field.