Career and College Promise a jump-start for high school students
South Piedmont Community College can now help qualified high school students get a jump-start on college or a career, tuition free, through the Career and College Promise. The state initiative provides three pathways to help eligible students achieve success after high school.

SPCC can help students reach that success through all three pathways. One is the College Transfer pathway, which provides up to 34 hours of tuition-free course credits toward the Core 44, an agreed-upon 44 hours of college credits that will transfer seamlessly to any public or participating private college.

SPCC will begin offering the Core 44 College Transfer Pathway in four areas – Humanities and Social Science; Business and Economics; Life and Health Sciences; and Engineering and Mathematics – in the Spring 2012 semester. Registration will be conducted on both campuses from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 3, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Jan. 4-5 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 6. Walk-ins will also be accepted Monday through Thursday until Dec. 15.

The college will also offer certain Technical Career pathways beginning in fall 2012. The third pathway is Cooperative Innovative High Schools; both the Anson County Early College and Union County Early College qualify as one of these.

“SPCC is excited to be able to offer high school students the opportunity to pursue college coursework, tuition free, said Vicki Holt, SPCC’s interim vice president of Student Learning. “Our hope is that upon graduation from high school these students will continue their education with us to earn an Associate in Arts or an Associate in Science college transfer degree. Completing a college transfer degree at SPCC is a very inexpensive way to complete the first two years of general education coursework before going on to one of North Carolina’s public universities.”

To qualify for the Career and College Promise, a student must be a high school junior or senior, have a weighted 3.0 GPA in high school courses and demonstrate college readiness in English, reading and mathematics on an approved assessment or placement test. SPCC administers placement tests free of charge. To make an appointment, call the Old Charlotte Highway Campus in Monroe at 704-290-5841 or the L.L. Polk Campus in Polkton at 704-272-5340.

At SPCC, after eligibility is established, a student must complete an SPCC application for admission, provide official copies of a high school transcript and assessment scores, view student orientation online and complete the Career and College Promise release form.

A button for more information can be found on the SPCC website home page at www.spcc.edu, or call 704-290-5847 in Monroe or 704-272-5324 in Polkton.

----

Media inquiries: Rosemary Britt, 704-272-5342, rbritt@spcc.edu