ASHLAND — North Central State College will begin offering college classes at the Ashland County Community Academy next year in a new partnership announced Thursday.
Starting in January, Ashland County residents will be able to take entry-level college courses in English and business, along with workforce development courses on leadership and supervision.
The partnership was unveiled at an event at the Ashland County Community Academy (ACCA) on Thursday, where speakers from NC State College, ACCA, and the city touted the program and its potential benefits.
“With this education attainment comes better jobs, with better jobs comes better standard of living, better quality of life, better taxes for the mayor and the city,” NC State College President Dorey Diab said.
The Ashland County Community Academy (ACCA) works with students from around the region that struggle with grades, behavior, or attendance. They offer tutoring, FAFSA assistance, industry credentials, college credit, and more to students that may have struggled in a traditional classroom.
Now, ACCA’s students are eager to take NC State College’s classes, Superintendent Shannon Lusk said.
“The first thing our kids said was, ‘We’re gonna have a college here.’ This is something that’s really big for our students and they talk about it all the time,” Lusk said. “And then they start thinking, this is something I can do.”
The partnership began when administrators from the Mansfield-based North Central State College reached out to ACCA’s administration. The college was on the hunt for a location in Ashland County, and they liked ACCA’s vision and their location downtown.
It’s a perfect fit for Superintendent Lusk; she sees the college as the post-secondary version of ACCA.
“They’re a community college and they offer the same type of services that we do, just to college students,” Lusk said.
Classes will likely be twice a week in the evenings, and students will have to pay for the classes they take, Lusk added.
More information on the classes and how to enroll is available on NC State College’s website.
