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A grant program expansion will allow more NC students to attend community college

Students at work in a computer integrated machining course at Guilford Technical Community College. (Photo courtesy GTCC)

A newly expanded grant program will allow more North Carolina high school graduates to attend community college. 

The Longleaf Commitment Grant program helps recent low-income high school graduates cover the cost of community college tuition for up to two years.

The program, which launched last May, was originally designed to assist 2021 high school graduates, but an excess of funding has allowed for an expansion to include those who graduated in 2020.

The state has budgeted an additional $31 million for the grants that help cover tuition and fees at any of the state's 58 community colleges. Eligibility is determined through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process.

The program also includes funding to help the schools hire more academic counselors.

Thomas Stith III is president of the N.C. Community College System. He tells The News & Observer that “education equals opportunity,” and the grants can help mitigate the impact of the pandemic while aiding the state's economic recovery.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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