A note from us
Welcome to Awake58 — a weekly newsletter where you’ll find the latest updates on community college related news and events around the state. Plus, a look at what’s trending nationally in higher education.
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The State Board of Community Colleges’ November meeting recap, including the latest on enrollment growth funding… The 2025-26 FAFSA form is now open to all students during the Department of Education’s final phase of beta testing… The annual Dallas Herring Lecture is today… A look at North Carolina’s first HSI… NCCCS’ adult learner conference kicks off this week… Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond released a new data tool for measuring community college success… National apprenticeship week is here… Plus, ICYMI, election results and EdNC’s first look at the impact on public education…
Hi all — Emily Thomas here with this week’s Awake58.
The General Assembly is expected to vote to override the governor’s veto of House Bill 10 today, and will convene this week through Thursday.
The “mini budget” bill allocates $64 million for enrollment growth funding across the N.C. Community College System, $95 million recurring for K-12 enrollment increases, and $463 million toward private school vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarship program for this fiscal year. The bill also includes funding to expand access to high-speed internet in rural counties and language that requires “sheriffs to cooperate with ICE.”
The State Board of Community Colleges addressed the upcoming vote at their November Board meeting, voting to provide contingent approval of an allocation of $76 million in enrollment growth funds to colleges that experienced an enrollment increase during Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24.
“If we don’t do this, (and) if the funds get approved next week, then we’d have to wait until January to take action,” NCCCS Dr. Jeff Cox told the Board on Friday. “The colleges are desperate for this funding, so… as soon as it’s approved, we want to get the money out the next day, so that’s the rationale.”
EdNC will have more coverage about the expected override vote soon. Stay tuned.
We’re closing in on two months since Hurricane Helene dropped torrential rain across the state’s western region, compromising creeks, rivers, and dams.
During the Board’s meeting last week, Dr. David Heatherly, president of the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents (NCACCP), pledged continual support for the colleges impacted by Helene. Heatherly said being president of a college in the east and having endured numerous storms, hurricanes are not something you recover from quickly.
The N.C. Community Colleges’ System Advisory Council will meet Nov. 25 at 2 p.m. to discuss “Western NC Disaster Relief, Enrollment Growth Fund, Legislative Session and Propel NC next steps.” The meeting will be livestreamed on the system’s YouTube channel.
In other news, the annual Dallas Herring Lecture hosted by the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research is today. This is the 10th anniversary of the lecture. This year’s keynote will be delivered by Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, chancellor of the Austin Community College District. Come say hi if you’re attending. You can find the lecture recap EdNC’s website later this week.
Finally, team EdNC would like to extend our deepest sympathy to the Pamlico Community College family for their loss of Interim President Michelle Willis Krauss. I’d encourage you to read this tribute to Krauss on EdNC’s website.
“Michelle was an example of a person who loved what she did, but more importantly, she loved who she did it for. Let’s all love like Michelle loved.”
-Rev. Scott Fitzgerald, pastor of Bayboro Baptist Church
As a reminder, we will push pause on Awake58 next week for Thanksgiving.
More from EdNC in two weeks,
Emily Thomas
Director of Postsecondary Attainment — EdNC.org
EdNC reads
State Board of Community Colleges discusses need for enrollment growth funds ahead of legislature reconvening
Fifty-two of the state’s 58 colleges experienced enrollment growth last fiscal year, according to a document presented at the State Board of Community Colleges meeting last week.
During the Board’s meeting, Johnston Community College Board Chair Lyn Austin highlighted concerns from the N.C. Association of Community College Trustees (NCACCT).
The NCACCT executive board said the delay in enrollment growth funding is stalling the momentum of growth across the system, and that receiving funding is an urgent issue.
In response, the executive board has asked local board chairs to work with presidents to contact legislators ahead of the Nov. 19-21 session. Their goal was to share specific information about how the delay in funding is impacting colleges.
Without the enrollment growth funding, for example, Johnston Community College said it “faces cutting classes and increasing class sizes, obviously. But those cuts will not be sufficient to balance our budget. We would need to reduce our workforce with midyear layoffs—we estimate 12 positions, spread across all functional areas.”
Per the NCCCS document, Johnston Community College is set to receive more than $3.2 million in enrollment growth funds.
“This has the potential to slam the brakes on JCC’s progress,” Austin said.
Read more about the meeting — including a new partnership with Google, reports on health care and workforce, and more — on EdNC’s website.
2025-26 FAFSA now available for all students and families as part of final beta testing
As of Monday, Nov. 18, the 2025-26 FAFSA form is now available to all students and families, as part of the Department of Education’s beta testing.
Students and families interested in completing the online 2025–26 FAFSA form can do so at fafsa.gov.
“The Department will make the decision to end the beta testing and announce the official release of the 2025–26 FAFSA form based on platform stability, customer satisfaction, and contact center capacity, no later than Dec. 1,” the Department’s website says.
The Department is calling this final round of beta testing “Expanded Beta 4.”
“During (this) time, the Department will continue to carefully monitor the FAFSA form, overall system performance, and support operations, such as our contact center, and adjust operations as needed,” a DOE release says. “This will allow the Department to test the FAFSA system with higher volumes of users, while giving students an opportunity to submit online 2025–26 FAFSA forms before Dec. 1.”
Once the DOE determines the “FAFSA system is operating smoothly with high volumes of users” during Expanded Beta 4, the 2025-26 FAFSA form will officially be released.
“Allowing more students to access the FAFSA form is the final state of beta testing as we prepare to officially launch the form no later than Dec. 1,” DOE Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal said.
Find more FAFSA resources in the full article.
A new way to measure community college success
Community colleges have long been heralded as workforce engines, playing a vital role in economic development. But the ways in which success is measured among these two-year institutions is problematic, community college leaders say.
Since 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (Richmond Fed) has worked to create a tool that would measure community college success across the Fifth District (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, most of West Virginia, and the District of Columbia).
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is the primary data system used to measure postsecondary outcomes in the United States. While consistent in standardized metrics, IPEDS was designed for four-year institutions and does not account for how community colleges operate and their diverse student populations.
The Richmond Fed launched this initiative, in part, because they care about workforce development and know that community colleges are integral to the work. Over the years, they discovered that tracking economic impacts using existing data could not fully capture the outcomes achieved by community college students, nor did it accurately depict how these colleges serve students.
Read more about the new tool developed by Richmond Fed for measuring community college success.
‘We’re all in it together’ and other lessons from the first HSI in North Carolina
Sampson Community College received the first Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) designation in North Carolina in 2020. Since then, the college has expanded its offerings for its Hispanic/Latinx students due to the funding and legitimization that comes with the designation.
In order to receive the HSI designation, a college must have at least 25% full-time enrollment of Hispanic students, according to the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. In the 2023-4 academic year, 27% of Sampson Community College’s total headcount was Hispanic.
The Hispanic/Latinx population in Sampson County has grown significantly over the past 30 years. In 1990, there were only 727 Hispanic/Latinx residents in the county, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, that population had grown to 12,249 Hispanic/Latinx residents out of 59,036 total residents in Sampson County.
Anticipating this growth, the college began a concerted effort to better serve the Hispanic/Latinx community in 2002, according to the Viking Voice. They hired bilingual staff and faculty, as well as people with Hispanic/Latinx heritage to help build a culturally knowledgeable and inclusive campus. This forward thinking helped the college prepare to meet the needs of these students and their evolving culture on campus.
Read the full Sampson Community College story on EdNC’s website.
Around NC
Election results | Take a look at EdNC’s article on election results and our first look at the impact on public education. Plus, a look at elections results county by county.
Perspective | Johnston Community College’s Dr. Ken Robol shares his perspective about the need for community college funding as these institutions are continually tasked with adapting to industry needs.
Adult learner conference | The Adult Learning Conference hosted by the NCCCS will take place this week, Nov. 21-22, in Raleigh. Click here to see the agenda.
Research | A recent research brief from the the Belk Center highlights Isothermal Community College’s “Be Great in 8” — a compressed course schedule that provides students with paths to quicker credential completion.
Recognitions |
- Forsyth Technical Community College’s Lift program is a finalist for the Bellweather Award. College Lift is a seven-year pipeline program that “supports low-income, first-generation students through postsecondary education” and offers academic enrichment through Saturday Academies and family empowerment workshops.
- Davidson-Davie Community College was recently recognized as an Apprenticeship Ambassador by the U.S. Department of Labor. You can read more about one of their apprenticeship programs in this EdNC case study.
Events |
- Cape Fear Community College will host their inaugural HelloArts! Festival Nov. 18-19. The festival is free to the public.
- College of the Albemarle will host a special event on Dec. 17 to introduce computer science basics through one-hour coding activities. The event is for all youth ages 6-17.
Programs and Partnerships |
- Alamance Community College recently launched Parent Promise, a new program that offers higher education opportunities for parents and guardians of students enrolled in Career and College Promise at Alamance.
- Wayne Community College and Fayetteville Technical Community College recently held a signing event to mark their strategic regional partnership for the funeral service education program.
Apprenticeships | This week is national apprenticeship week (NAW). According to their website: “NAW is a nationwide celebration where employers, industry representatives, labor organizations, community-based organizations, workforce partners, educational institutions, and Federal, State, and Local government agencies host events to showcase the successes and value of Registered Apprenticeship.” You can also check out ApprenticeshipNC’s November newsletters.
MerleFest lineup | MerleFest, the multi-day concert held on Wilkes Community College’s campus, released their 2025 lineup. If you missed EdNC’s first-ever full-length documentary about MerleFest, check out My Name is Merle on YouTube. The documentary was directed and edited by Robert Kinlaw and produced by Mebane Rash.
Other higher education reads
