Community colleges to help address NC's teacher shortage

An agreement signed Monday will allow North Carolina community college students to earn two-year degrees in teacher preparation in either the arts or the sciences and then transfer to a four-year program to complete their degrees.

Officials said the deal will help address the shortage of teachers in public schools statewide.

Thomas Stith, president of the North Carolina Community College System said the teacher shortage is especially pronounced in the science and math and in rural communities that often have a hard time recruiting those teachers.

"We believe that the community colleges can be a part of this solution to the teacher shortage and assist training teachers that not only come from our needed counties but will remain in their communities once they graduate and become a certified teacher," Stith said during a ceremony announcing the deal with the University of North Carolina System.

The agreement includes 52 of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges and 15 campuses in the UNC System. Additional community colleges will offer the new transfer degrees beginning in fall 2022.

“By creating intentional pathways from community colleges to the UNC System, we will be able to recruit and prepare more teachers for our growing state,” UNC President Peter Hans said. “Our goal is also to diversify and strengthen the teacher corps to benefit all students. This is a great day for education in North Carolina.”