Asheville, NC — A-B Tech Community College will celebrate approximately 400 graduates during its 2023 Commencement ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in downtown Asheville.
A-B Tech President John Gossett will preside over the ceremony and Clark Duncan, senior vice president for economic development of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, will deliver the keynote address.
“We look forward to commencement as the highlight of our academic year when we gather to celebrate our graduates, their journeys, and their success,” said A-B Tech President John Gossett. “Most of our graduates are first-generation college students who are transforming their own lives and the lives of their families for generations to come.”
A-B Tech will award nearly 900 degrees and diplomas for the 2022-23 academic year (fall, spring, and summer semesters), and about 400 graduates are expected to cross the stage on Saturday.
"I consider myself honored to be an A-B Tech graduate, said Student Government Association President Ryan Adams-Clark. “The college is filled with faculty and staff who are passionate about what they teach and who they are teaching, and students who are equally elated about their education and futures. It’s an inspiring campus to be on, and I am beyond grateful to have gotten the opportunity to be a part of it in a deeper capacity. "
Among this year’s graduating class are 78 Associate Degree Nursing students who are the first graduates of the new A-B Tech School of Nursing. The college has had nursing programs since its founding in 1959, but the School of Nursing was dedicated last month.
The Class of 2023 also includes 54 area high school students who will earn associate degrees from A-B Tech before they receive high school diplomas in June. Included are 27 students from Buncombe County Early College, 16 from Madison Early College, 4 from Buncombe County Middle College, two each from Nesbitt Discovery Academy and home schools, and one each from ICI Charter, Owen, and TC Roberson high schools. High school students take college courses for free under the NC Career & College Promise high school dual enrollment program.
A-B Tech will confer degrees and diplomas in more than 60 program areas. Approximately 200 Associate in Arts degrees and 70 Associate in Science degrees will be awarded to transfer students who intend to pursue four-year degrees at colleges and universities. Other transfer degrees include an Associate in Engineering, an Associate in Fine Arts, and an Associate in Arts: Teacher Preparation.
More than half of degrees earned by A-B Tech graduates are Associate in Applied Sciences (AAS) degrees in a range of career fields spanning Aviation to Welding. The college trains bakers, chefs, brewers, hospitality managers, accountants, office administrators, pilots, paramedics, firefighters, police officers, construction workers, machinists, welders, a wide range of healthcare professionals, and more.
The commencement ceremony will be signed by American Sign Language (ASL) interpreters, close captioned, and broadcast live on A-B Tech’s YouTube Channel, @abtech_cc. The college also will post photo galleries and video on the college's Facebook page after the ceremony.
About A-B Tech
Founded in 1959 in the heart of Asheville, A-B Tech is the largest higher education institution in Western North Carolina, serving approximately 23,000 students a year in Buncombe and Madison counties. One of 58 community colleges in the NC Community College System, A-B Tech offers more than 125 degrees, diplomas, and certificates, as well as a wide range of workforce training and continuing education programs. A-B Tech includes the main Asheville campus, A-B Tech Enka (home of the A-B Tech Small Business Center and Business Incubation Program, Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast and N.C. BioNetwork), A-B Tech Madison, A-B Tech Woodfin, the Goodwill Center and the ABCCM Transformation Village in West Asheville, and a new location under construction at Biltmore Park West in 2023. Learn more at abtech.edu.