Students at Edgecombe Community College complete a variety of specialized and transfer programs. As of Fall 2015, 54 students transferred to a UNC System school. East Carolina University received 18, while the remaining transferred across the other fifteen institutions. Since 78 students received a liberal arts transfer degree, some students elected to either enter the workforce or transfer to a private college; in fact, Edgecombe just renewed its transfer agreement with Barton, a private college in Wilson, NC. This variety in transfer suggests that either students are seeking very specific degree programs, that students seek to attend college near extended family or friends, or that students received better aid packages than at other colleges.
Other popular degrees, in order of popularity, are health sciences, business, and education. Health sciences is most popular most likely because of Edgecombe's partnership with Vidant Medical Center in funding mobile simulation. This partnership began in 2009 when Vidant and Golden Leaf Foundation funded a mobile simulation lab in a trailer to be used by Edgecombe to provide training to Vidant employees and to Edgecombe students. Vidant and Edgecombe Community College share the funding of the Simulation Specialist, who duties as of 2016 also include supervision over the simulation labs in the new Health Sciences building in downtown Rocky Mount.
Edgecombe attempts to facilitate transfer by making classes more flexible. It offers a very robust online class menu, meaning that many students never have to set foot on campus. Additionally, it offers Weekend College, which helps to serve working adults; the average age of an Edgecombe student means that more likely than not a student will have a family and/or a full-time job.
Several certificate programs experience high enrollment at Edgecombe Community College. Automotive, cosmotology, medical office and business administration are popular certificate programs. Several large, local companies make automotive appealing, like Cummins. Other large plants like Keihin chemical plant, Hillshire Farms, and QVC demand skills for a business office environment. Vidant in Tarboro and Greenville support the need for medical office administration certificates. Should students decide to continue from a certificate to a specialized degree, many articulation agreements include degrees like the Pre-engineering or Early Children degrees.
Graduation rates and retention are low for Edgecombe. Graduation as of 2011 was 7%; women graduation at twice the rate as men and white students graduated at twice the rate as African Americans. However, all veterans who were enrolled full-time graduated, and 80% part-time students graduated.
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