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Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Elon has major ambitions for Charlotte, leaders say

To check evidence of Elon University’s national aspirations, consider that the Alamance County-based school has admissions staff based in Chicago, Denver, a New York City suburb and San Diego, and regional learning centers in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C.

Now, Elon is taking particularly strong aim at Charlotte, where it has leased more than 40,000 square feet on three floors of a new South End office building. The headline-grabber so far is the law school program, which debuted this fall with 36 students enrolled in a four-year “flex” program. It complements the law school launched in Greensboro that has become one of the state’s largest with about 443 students.

Plans call for 50 students per class in Charlotte in what is now the only law school based in the state’s biggest city.

That’s just part of Elon’s long-term plans for the Queen City, which is 110 miles southwest. While no professors and less than a handful of staff are now based there, Elon ““will be in Charlotte in 100 years,” President Connie Book says. “It’s not just a toe in the market.”

It’s a major step for Elon, which was started in 1889 by officials affiliated with what became the United Church of Christ. It no longer is tied to the Protestant denomination.

Elon officials recently held a lunch with Charlotte-area employers interested in learning more about the university’s plans. It also offers undergraduate students majoring and minoring in sport management the opportunity to study and work in Charlotte. The Queen City is a leading sports-business town with offices of ESPN, ACC, NASCAR, professional teams and many affiliated enterprises.

Beyond law and sports, Elon wants to develop partnerships with local businesses for continuing education programs, including formal ones leading to certification. Officials are also mulling how to expand offerings from Elon’s schools of business, communications and health sciences. It expects to offer graduate business classes in business and healthcare within two years, they said.

Students from North Carolina make up about 26% of Elon’s enrollment, but the university has had regional and national aspirations for a long time, Book says. It has intentionally had a “slow growth” model that has built undergraduate enrollment from 3,500 students in 1996 to about 6,500 today. There are nearly 790 students in graduate programs.

Elon is following the track of another Triad university that has been building its presence in Charlotte for more than 30 years. Starting with an MBA program, Wake Forest University now has about 600 graduate students enrolled in 12 master’s programs in the Queen City. The Winston-Salem-based institution also offers programs developed to meet industry and employer needs, with more than 1,000 Charlotte students taking part of executive education, certificates, boot camps and other non-credit offerings.

Wake’s profile will rise further next year as it launches the M.D. program at its new medical school campus in a partnership with Advocate Health. It’s one of five new graduate programs coming next year, says Charles Iacovou, the school’s vice provost for Charlotte programs.

Like Wake Forest, Elon is drawn to Charlotte because of its strong growth prospects and because it is a destination for many graduating students, Book says. She spent 18 years as an Elon administrator and professor, left for two years as the Citadel’s provost, then returned to Elon as president in 2018.

Also like many campuses, Elon is working hard to boost its endowment. It totaled $367 million this fall, while the university’s board has set a goal of $625 million by 2030, according to Elon’s strategic plan.

Asked what differentiates Elon, Book emphasizes the university’s continued success in providing a high-caliber undergraduate experience. It ranked first in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings for undergraduate teaching this year, with Princeton University and Brown University following in second and third positions. The magazine noted those schools received the most votes from college administrators because of a focus on teaching versus academic research.

Book credits “a couple of decades of intentional hiring. We are really proactive in the search process to identify faculty who are committed to teaching, scholarship and mentoring,” she says.

As for Charlotte, Book sees a steady growth trajectory. “Our mission is to respond to the education needs that you see in the community. That’s a very exciting opportunity.”

David Mildenberg
David Mildenberg
David Mildenberg is editor of Business North Carolina. Reach him at dmildenberg@businessnc.com.

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