Posted on the WLOS website on March 20, 2024
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — UNC Asheville and A-B Tech have renewed their partnership to help students make an easy transition from the community college to the university.
The Bulldog Trailblazer Promise agreement, which began in 2018, is a direct-entry program that provides guaranteed admission to UNC Asheville for qualified A-B Tech graduates.
A-B Tech is one of the largest feeder schools to UNCA, accounting for about 20% of its transfer program.
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About half of A-B Tech's students plan to attend a four-year university after graduating.
Renewing this agreement comes at a crucial time for UNC Asheville, which faces a $8 million budget deficit due to declining enrollment.
"We are hoping to continue to welcome a lot of transfer students to UNC Asheville," said Dr. Kimberly Van Noort, UNCA chancellor. "We're working hard with our community college partners to think about the transfer pathways -- the career pathways that our students are most interested in -- and working to make sure those degrees are available to them."
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"Fifty percent of our students are transfer students, so they want to go on to university, and many of them go to UNCA," said John Gossett, A-B Tech president. "We're happy today to solidify that transfer agreement."