Academics
Known to many as the first publicly supported liberal arts college for African Americans, North Carolina Central University is also the home for natural leaders in business, education, the sciences, nursing, and law. NCCU’s goal is to help its more than 8,000 total students make a difference in the world, and it does so in innovative ways. In 2022, several NCCU departments founded the interdisciplinary Health Communications Core, which aims to lessen health disparities through more research and public information. In addition to flexible online education opportunities for seven total undergraduate and graduate degrees, on-campus learning is focused on small class settings with an average size of 23 students and a student-faculty ratio of 16:1. There are also diverse opportunities for studies abroad, with semesters offered in China, Latin America, and the Caribbean to promote more cultural exchanges for enriched learning experiences.
Career
Home of the Eagles, NCCU encourages students to soar outside of their academic studies. One of the most integral ways is through community projects. The institution promotes and upholds a message of “truth and service” as a Community Engaged Institution (per the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching). In fact, the university reports 181,950 community service hours contributed by students enrolled in 2019–2020, which amounts to $4.6 million invested in the region. Some of the initiatives include participation in the America READS program and Civic Engagement Ambassador student groups, currently invested in movements like stopping voter suppression. As an NCAA Division I university, sports are a robust part of the NCCU experience, with 13 programs offered for men and women athletes in basketball, football, golf, tennis, track and field, and volleyball, among others. NCCU also has an eSports program, for which Red Bull sponsors scholarship opportunities. Health and wellness are also part of the wellrounded NCCU experience—in addition to a comprehensive fitness center with personal trainers, students can take part in virtual workouts. The local terrain also provides students with plenty of activities, with the popular Eagle Ventures program including rock climbing, horseback riding, skiing, and more.
Culture
NCCU graduates can expect to earn an average salary of $59,000 per year, ranging from an estimated $43,000 as a community outreach coordinator to $94,000 as an IT manager, according to Payscale.com. Some of the top employers of NCCU grads include Duke University Healthsystem, Fidelity Investments and AT&T. The university has a long list of famous alumni, including fashion icon André Leon Talley, actress Kim Coles, Olympic Gold medalist Larry Black, and activist Vivian Wilson Henderson. To help bolster the dwindling number of Black male teachers in elementary schools, NCCU’s School of Education recently launched The Marathon Teaching Institute, offering a $25,000 scholarship and curated courses so that, when completed, graduates can directly move into the profession as the program provides guaranteed job placement.
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