••• SPONSORED SECTION •••
A recently announced accelerated
college-to-career program, which will
be available at 15 N.C. Community College System campuses by next year, is expected
to increase graduation rates, helping the
state meet its future workforce needs.
Committed to meeting North Carolina’s workforce development needs, N.C. Community College System is launching Boost, a combination of timely and relevant supports, dedicated advising for students and incentives to accelerate their education. Philanthropist Arnold Ventures provided a grant of more than $35.6 million — the largest private grant ever given to the system — to fund its launch. The non-partisan and nonprofit North Carolina Community Colleges Foundation will partner with the state Community College System to manage the grant program.
Boost is a partnership between the state, the community college system, individual community colleges and students. It invests in students, so they can get good jobs that help their communities. The model for the program has a proven track record, doubling graduation rates in several other states. “The City University of New York’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs model is the gold standard for increasing completion in higher education,” says Jeff Cox, community college system president. “In the N.C. Community Colleges Boost implementation, we have taken that model and aligned it with North Carolina’s workforce development goals as specified in the PropelNC initiative. This is how we will ensure the maximum benefit for our students and our state. Participants will quickly move through college into the careers that our policymakers have identified as most important to North Carolina’s economic success.”
Houston-based Arnold Ventures supports research into the country’s most-pressing issues and finding evidence-based solutions to address them. Its focuses include education, criminal justice, health, infrastructure and public finance. It advocates for bipartisan
policy reforms that lead to lasting, scalable change. “Arnold Ventures is excited to supportN.C. Community Colleges Boost, and we have the utmost confidence in North Carolina’s ability to successfully implement this evidence-based program tailored to the unique needs and culture of North Carolina,” says Kirby Smith, Arnold Ventures’ executive vice president of strategy and programs. “By aligning the program’s goals with the workforce development goals identified by the PropelNC initiative, state leaders are ensuring that students will not only improve their economic security but will contribute
to a thriving North Carolina economy.”
CUNY Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodríguez says its ASAP program has doubled the graduation rate of participating students in a cost-effective manner. Cox expects the same results in North Carolina. “What makes this especially exciting is the opportunity to demonstrate success through our pilot and then scale it statewide — something few other states have done,” he says. “We are fully committed to transparency and will track and report the program’s results regularly, ensuring policymakers can clearly see the return on investment. This is an exciting day for North Carolina businesses, companies looking to relocate to a state dedicated to world-class workforce development and for the residents of North Carolina. We expect the North Carolina Community College System Boost program to make a significant, positive contribution to our state’s economic future.”
Launching over the next two years with technical assistance from CUNY ASAP National Replication Collaborative, Boost will serve students at eight colleges across the state this year, and it will expand to seven more next year. Those campuses are Alamance Community College, Bladen Community College, Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute, Cape Fear Community College, Central Carolina Community College, Central Piedmont Community College, Cleveland Community College, Forsyth Tech, Isothermal Community College, Johnston Community College, McDowell Technical Community College, Robeson Community College, Sampson Community College, Wake Technical Community College and Western Piedmont Community College. ■
