RALEIGH (November 17, 2021) – UNC System leaders have launched an ambitious effort called Project Kitty Hawk to use online offerings to reach adult learners in North Carolina.

The state budget released this week includes $97 million for the project, which involves creating a nonprofit organization that would provide a platform to offer online programs.¹ UNC System schools that choose to take part would be the organization’s “clients.”² 

The project is pitched as a way for the UNC System to meet several looming challenges: 

• Access hurdles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic; 
• A state goal to have 2 million North Carolinians with a degree or high-quality credential by 2030; and 
• Reaching more working adults as the number of traditional college-age students declines or levels off over the next decade. 

“Today’s great challenge in achieving educational attainment goals doesn’t require us to break ground on a new campus, but to create something even more ambitious,” System President Peter Hans said in his inauguration address Tuesday. “A second chance for the millions of adult North Carolinians who have the drive and talent to succeed in higher education but didn’t have the time or opportunity when they left high school.

“It’s time to address our obligation to adult learners and veterans and underserved populations in a more comprehensive manner, to stand again for the idea that there’s more than one path to success,” Hans said.

“Over the next few years, the UNC System is going to build one of the most ambitious efforts in the country to meet the needs of working adults who are ready for a college degree. There are tens of thousands of busy North Carolinians who turn to out-of-state providers for help with career transitions. I believe there are many thousands more who will engage our brilliant faculty and dedicated staff if we have valuable credentials to offer them, that are easily accessible, flexible, and affordable.”

TWO CONSULTANTS told the UNC Board of Governors’ Strategic Initiatives Committee Wednesday that it’s a massive, yet underserved market: North Carolina has 1 million working adults who attended college but left without a degree. Meanwhile, just 13% of UNC System undergraduates are over 25.

Many, though, turn to out-of-state offerings. Almost as many North Carolinians enrolled at out-of-state online institutions in 2019 – more than 6,000 – as at North Carolina’s online colleges and universities.

And a list of the most popular online programs for online North Carolina students is led by two out-of-state schools: Liberty University and Strayer University.⁴ 

Wil Zemp, who has worked with both Southern New Hampshire and Amazon, told Board of Governors members the idea is not to change or replace what universities already do well in educating 18-24-year-olds. Rather, it’s to tailor instruction to the needs of working adults.

Terah Crews, a Tobaccoville native who has worked with Southern New Hampshire University, said adults with work and family demands pose an entirely different challenge than traditional students.

“We’re talking about a time-poor population,” she said. “These are people who are working through their classes at 10:30 at night after they’ve put the kids to bed and after they’ve helped mom get to bed.”

Offerings for adult students will require highly targeted support services, such as day care for children of a working mother who also wants to attend class, she said.

And many – especially those who’ve been to college but stopped – are wary and need encouragement. 

“They’re burned. They’re scared. There’s a reason they stopped out,” Crews said.

The legislation providing funds for Project Kitty Hawk calls for it to be run by a nonprofit organization with three board members who are chancellors or chief academic officers at UNC System institutions, as well as four members with experience in business management and/or higher education. The UNC System President and Chair of the Board of Governors would also serve as ex officio voting board members.⁵ 

“The higher education market is changing in a way that will put a premium on universities’ ability to meet the needs of adult learners,” said Carolyn Coward, Chair of the Strategic Initiatives Committee. “We’re poised to make significant progress on this front.”

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¹ https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewBillDocument/2021/53458/2/S105-BD-NBC-9279, p. 74/B48.
² https://www.northcarolina.edu/apps/bog/doc.php?id=66394&code=bog, p. 41.
³ https://www.northcarolina.edu/apps/bog/doc.php?id=66394&code=bog, p. 38.
⁴ https://www.northcarolina.edu/apps/bog/doc.php?id=66394&code=bog, pp. 40-41.
⁵ https://webservices.ncleg.gov/ViewNewsFile/59/S105-CCSMLxr-3v5, pp. 143-144.