HAMLET — Students at Richmond Community College planning to transfer to UNC-Pembroke now have a way to guarantee their admission.
Leaders of both colleges met at Cole Auditorium on the RichmondCC campus Wednesday to formalize the BraveNation Advantage agreement.
High school juniors or seniors enrolled in a Career and College Promise or Early College program or community college students taking 12 credit hours with a GPA of 2.0 or higher enrolled in an approved transfer program in the first year of coursework are eligible for the BraveNation Advantage.
The program offers students:
RichmondCC has quite a few employees who earned a degree from UNCP — including current President Brent Barbee.
Richmond Community College President Brent Barbee lauds the college's relationship with UNC-Pembroke.
“I am very proud of the degree I have from there,” Barbee said, referring to his Masters in Public Administration.
Barbee said he was apprehensive about going back as a non-traditional student, having not been to college since earning his Bachelor’s more than a decade prior.
However, he added, “It was the easiest education I ever received,” crediting the UNCP staff and faculty “working with me to make sure that there was no apprehension to have.”
Barbee went on to praise the latest partnership between the colleges.
“I just can’t say enough about the level of cooperation that we’ve got from a UNC institution … that’s in our backyard,” Barbee said. “It’s just a blessing that we can have a partnership like that.”
UNCP Chancellor Dr. Robin Cummings said the agreement was “all about creating … opportunities in education for students.”
Dr. Robin Cummings talks about the opportunities available at UNCP.
Cummings said there are more than 400 students from Richmond and Scotland counties currently enrolled at UNCP, including 113 RichmondCC graduates.
“We certainly look forward to having additional students join us in the future,” Cummings said.
UNCP has expanded its opportunities through pathways for students to find careers in a variety of fields including medicine and law.
“We tell our students, ‘Wherever you want to land in life, you can get there from here,’” Cummings said. “But even more important than the pathways that leave from UNC-Pembroke are the pathways that lead to UNC-Pembroke.”
In 2019, the two colleges announced the BraveStep dual enrollment program. There are also agreements related to a number of degree fields including accounting, business, criminal justice, education, sociology and nursing.
The chancellor highlighted the recent success of siblings Madison and Brandon Swallow, former early college students who will soon graduate with honors from UNCP before heading to UNC-Greensboro.
“This is one family choosing to continue their education or degree at UNC-Pembroke after finishing their education here at Richmond,” Cummings said.
UNC-P recently launched its first doctoral program in nursing and is gearing up for one in optometry in 2027. The college is also in the second year of its Masters of Occupational Therapy program.
“Our goal is simple: To make sure whatever students are looking for, they can find it at UNC-Pembroke,” Cummings said.
In addition to its degree offerings, UNCP also helps with educational opportunities with its cost of $500 per semester for in-state students.
Cummings said students can graduate with little to no college debt, adding that half of last year’s graduating class “didn’t owe a dime when they finished.”
For more on the BraveNation Advantage, visit uncp.edu/advantage.
