HAMLET — A new agreement between Richmond Community College and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke will be “life-changing for the people in our county,” according to RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis.
McInnis and UNCP Chancellor Dr. Robin Cummings announced the new BraveStep program in front of a small crowd Wednesday afternoon in the lobby of Cole Auditorium.
Students who are part of BraveStep will begin their college career at Richmond, but already be enrolled with UNCP, where they will finish up after completing 30 credit hours.
“From day one, these students will be members of the Braves Nation,” Cummings said.
The dual enrollment also includes help from academic advisors of both institutions, student IDs for both, access to all UNCP campus resources and programming, as well as admission to athletic events and Givens Performing Arts Center events.
Cummings said he wants the students to feel at home, and participate in events at the Robeson County campus before they finish up at Richmond.
Combining the RichmondCC Guarantee — which offers free tuition to residents of Richmond and Scotland counties —and N.C. Promise — which charges only $500 per semester for North Carolina residents — students also have the opportunity to obtain an associate and bachelor’s degree paying only $2,000 in tuition (not including other fees). UNCP will stop taking applications for N.C. Promise on May 1.
With nationwide student debt topping $1 trillion, Cummings said, “That’s not a bad deal.”
High school senior Kasey Knight plans to take advantage of the new partnership.
“With this new BraveStep, I’ll more than likely stay closer to home,” she said.
Knight, a recipient of the RichmondCC Guarantee, has been dual-enrolled since her junior year and will be nine classes shy of her associate degree when she graduates in June.
After another year, she’ll be able to transfer to pursue her bachelor’s in Elementary Education and plans to return to Richmond County to teach.
“This is a day we’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time,” McInnis said, adding that the effort was spearheaded by Director of Career and Transfer Services Patsy Stanley. “This is the next step in what has been a great partnership.”
Before BraveStep, there were already six articulation agreements between the two colleges:
- Elementary Education
- Reverse Transfer
- Accounting to Business Management
- Criminal Justice
- Human Resources Technology to B.S. in Sociology
- Associate Degree Nursing to B.S. in Nursing
Students from Richmond Community College transfer to UNCP more than any other university in the state system, with more than 1,100 alumni.
There are currently 200 Richmond County students enrolled at UNCP with 72 already admitted for next fall.
To learn more about the BraveStep program and how to qualify, RichmondCC students should visit the Career & Transfer Center located in the Lee Building on Main Campus in Hamlet, call 910- 410-1730 or email pjstanley@richmondcc.edu.
