Online Degrees in North Carolina (NC)
Home to 137 post-secondary institutions--75 public and 62 private--North Carolina has a long history of innovation in education; Salem College, founded in 1772, is the oldest college for women that remains a women's college today and Shaw University in Raleigh is the oldest HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) in the South.
North Carolina also has the largest number of Early College High Schools (ECHSs) in the nation--60 across the state. Located on college campuses, these innovative schools have smaller classes, better access to technology and a focus on project-based learning. ECHSs offer high school diplomas and an associate degree or up to two years of college credit. Low-income and minority teens, underrepresented in higher education, who might not otherwise attend college are targeted for enrollment.
In a 2010 "State of the South" report, MDC--a Chapel Hill anti-poverty group--suggests that "educational attainment past high school has become even more critical for economic recovery and progress in states across the South." Although the Census Bureau reports that North Carolina falls below the national average of 27.5 percent for residents with a bachelor's degree, two major metropolitan areas, Raleigh and Durham, weigh in significantly higher at 41.3 and 42.4 percent respectively.
"North Carolina has emerged as an exemplar of how to put students on pathways to success by blending and fusing high schools with community colleges," says the MDC.
