N.C. Proposes $73M for High-Wage, High-Demand Career Education for Community Colleges
Credit: ALLISON JOYCE / AFP / Getty Image- Propel NC is a new way to fund community colleges that prioritizes educating students for high-wage, high-demand careers.
- The North Carolina Community College System requested about $100 million for Propel NC, but the state Senate’s budget proposes $73 million.
- Healthcare, engineering, trades and transportation, information technology, and public safety are some of the target workforce sectors being expanded.
North Carolina’s proposed budget supports the North Carolina Community College System’s (NCCCS) new Propel NC initiative. The initiative’s goals are to fund programs that prepare students for high-wage, high-demand careers and to streamline continuing education programs.
The state Senate announced its budget proposal for 2025-27 on April 14. The proposal included $73 million for Propel NC, along with other education initiatives benefiting new teachers, historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and college students.
“Our K-12 public schools, [University of North Carolina] System campuses, and community colleges are incredible assets to our state, and our budget recognizes that by increasing pay, supporting student outcomes, and improving workforce development offerings,” Senate Appropriations Chairman Sen. Michael Lee, R-New Hanover, said in a statement.
North Carolina has 58 community colleges serving its 100 counties, many of which are located in rural communities. More than half of NCCCS students are learners who are 25 years old or older, and about 80% of all students stay and work in the same communities where their college is located.
Propel NC is meant to ensure community colleges fund degree and training programs that lead to in-demand and high-wage careers in the state based on job demand data.
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NCCCS proposed $93,019,556 in recurring funding increases and $6 million in nonrecurring funding within the new budget for programs, including expansions to seven workforce sectors:
- Healthcare I
- Engineering and manufacturing
- Trades and transportation
- Information technology
- Public safety and first responders
- Healthcare II
- Customized training and small businesses
However, the state Senate proposed $36.5 million to the workforce sectors instead of the suggested $68.6 million NCCCS requested.
Other initiatives in the budget include:
- Giving salary supplements of up to $10,000 to teachers serving at schools within the Advanced Teaching Roles Program
- Increasing the state match for teacher signing bonuses
- Increasing tuition for out-of-state students from $2,500 to $3,000 per semester at N.C. Promise schools — schools that in-state students can attend for $500 per semester — to allow more funding to in-state students
- Expanding the merit-based Cheatham-White Scholarship at three HBCUs
- Providing $10 million in additional funding in fiscal year 2026-27 for North Carolina A&T State University’s Agriculture Research and Extension Services Program
- Increasing support to scholarships for children of military members, disabled veterans, and their families, and tuition discounts to students receiving military tuition assistance
The budget also instructs the University of North Carolina System to review all academic programs and address any low-performing and redundant centers and institutes, including those that “conflict with federal or state law, ensuring alignment with the system’s overall vision and purpose.”