Wake Tech offers big returns to students and the community

As North Carolina’s largest community college, Wake Technical Community College is a significant contributor to the local economy all across Wake County, where the college has nine robust campuses and training centers.

In addition to drawing in as many as 70,000 students every year, Wake Tech’s 250 associate degrees, certificates and diplomas allow it to turn out new generations of skilled workers to contribute to the local community.

“We offer a very high net present value, which is a measure of return on investment for students,” said Scott Ralls, Ph.D., president of Wake Tech. “Net present value is taking into account how much you spend to go to college and how much you earn at different points in your life after attending college.”

Wake Tech graduates earn an average of $9,800 more per year than county residents who have only a high school diploma, according to the study, and every dollar a student invests in a Wake Tech education is worth $3.20 in higher future earnings. Similarly, every dollar of taxpayer money invested in Wake Tech results in a cumulative value of $2.20 over the course of graduates’ working lives.

One Oak Island resident has seen the benefits of a Wake Tech education firsthand.

Casey Tart took a few classes after high school but didn’t earn a degree. He worked as an information technology support technician to pay the bills.

“I was 22 years old with a wife and baby at home,” said Tart. “While my friends were out partying, I was worried about my next paycheck and working as much overtime as I could. I remember doing the math: I needed to work at least 15 hours per week of overtime on top of my standard 40-hour week to make sure I could cover all our bills.”

Tart applied for other jobs, hoping the experience would qualify him for a higher-paying position. However, without a degree or technical certification, he wasn’t considered for anything above entry-level roles. Eventually, Time Warner Cable hired him to answer support calls.

“Friends and mentors had suggested Wake Tech as the best place to affordably complete a degree and technical certifications that were required for the higher paying roles I applied for,” said Tart. “At this point, I decided to enroll at Wake Tech. Over the next two years, I completed an associate in applied science degree in network technology as well as a few other technical certifications while working full-time at TWC.”

With his new degree and certifications, Tart was promoted into management roles, which brought him to the attention of Credit Suisse. The global financial services firm recruited him to manage a team of call center agents, and then promoted him several times. Today, he is Credit Suisse’s director of bank user support services for the NC Triangle.

Tart stays connected to Wake Tech and recently gave Ralls and other members of the leadership team a tour of the Credit Suisse campus. He speaks to Wake Tech classes, provides mentorship and career advice to students and has established an alumni group at Credit Suisse that encourages members to engage with the college and its students.

“We don’t want anyone in Wake County to have a financial reason for not going to college,” said Ralls.