CHAPEL HILL (July 20, 2022) – An investment in some of North Carolina’s brightest high-school graduates – free tuition – is already paying off at UNC System schools.
The NC School of Science and Mathematics in Durham – which now has a western campus in Morganton as well1 – is considered one of the top high schools in the country and part of the UNC System. Some of its star alumni include astronaut Christina Koch and musician Rhiannon Giddens.
But state and university officials have worried that too many NCSSM graduates go out of state or to private universities once they graduate.
So last year the UNC Board of Governors approved guaranteed admission for NCSSM graduates to any UNC System school,2 and the NC General Assembly restored a policy that lets NCSSM graduates attend UNC schools tuition-free.
Kimberly van Noort, the UNC System’s Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, reported to the Board of Governors’ Education Planning Committee today that 57 percent of NCSSM graduates last year went on to attend UNC System schools.
This year? 73 percent.
“We’re trying to keep wonderful students in our system,” van Noort said, adding that the graduates went to UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State and other UNC System schools as well.
NCSSM Chancellor Todd Roberts said that a combination of guaranteed admissions, the four-year tuition grant and expanded agreements with the universities to recognize college-level work NCSSM students do in high school are all responsible.
And Board of Governors Chair Randy Ramsey applauded the quick results.
“I just want to thank the legislature for keeping the best and brightest students in our state,” Ramsey said. “I think it’s very important to our future.”
1 https://wlos.com/newsletter-daily/morganton-campus-nc-school-of-science-math-officially-opens-first-class-fall-2022-unc-system.
2 https://hew.aveltsagency.com/2021/09/no-brainer-guaranteed-admission-for-ncssm-grads/.
Leave a Reply