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The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) is requesting nearly $100 million from the General Assembly this long session to implement Propel NC – a new model for funding the state’s 58 community colleges that focuses on modernizing and stabilizing their funding.
The system’s 2025-27 legislative agenda says Propel NC will help community colleges “better align with workforce demands, economic growth, and operational needs.”
The model is designed to not only help business and industry but also stabilize community colleges’ operational costs. Operational funds meet basic student needs and ensure colleges can deliver services that drive student success and completion, according to the legislative agenda.
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What is Propel NC?
One major component of the new model is to shift the current full-time equivalent (FTE) funding tiers to workforce sectors. Allocations for programs would be supported by labor-market data, enhancing funding for high-demand, high-wage workforce sectors. Some of those sectors include health care, trades and transportation, engineering, and advanced manufacturing. As part of this, Propel NC would fund curriculum and continuing education courses in the same sector at the same level.
The anticipated cost for this is $68.5 million in recurring funds. Those funds will allow the model to be labor-market driven with program allocations being supported by labor-market data. It would also “incentivize continuing education workforce programs while also enhancing funding for high-demand high wage workforce sectors,” according to the legislative agenda.
Other components of Propel NC include base funding modernization and enhancement with an anticipated cost of $24.4 million in recurring funds. This allows community colleges to provide services and tools necessary to meet basic student and constituent needs including instructional and academic support funds.
The system is also requesting $6 million in non-recurring funds for the enrollment increase reserve. The current enrollment growth reserve was implemented in 2010 in response to the large number of students enrolling in community colleges after the Great Recession. This update would “ensure a stable, reliable funding source for enrollment spikes at community colleges that see large enrollment growth throughout the year,” according to the agenda.
You can view more details about Propel NC, including projections for the proposed workforce sectors, here. You can read more about how community colleges are currently funded in this EdExplainer.
How Propel NC would impact one community college
Leaders at Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute (CCC&TI) call Propel NC a game changer for their college, the entire system, and the state. CCC&TI is situated in the northwest region of North Carolina and serves Caldwell and Watauga counties, both of which are rural.
For CCC&TI, the funding model would have a very real and practical impact at the local level. Business and industry leaders in Caldwell and Watauga counties see the benefit of Propel NC for both the college and their local workforce.
“The new funding model under consideration, Propel NC, will ensure that CCC&TI can continue to meet the needs of businesses in our community and promote the economic prosperity of our region and state,” said David Jackson, President/CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.
Increasing the health care workforce is a priority for local and state leaders. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, “Employment in health care is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2032 with 1.8 million openings per year.”
But the growing demand is quickly outpacing the ability to fill positions due to talent shortages, burnout among health care workers, and increasing skill demands. By 2033, North Carolina could face a shortage of roughly 12,500 registered nurses (RNs) and over 5,000 licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
If Propel NC is implemented, CCC&TI aims to increase their enrollment in Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) and Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) programs over the next five years — growing from 74 ADN graduates in 2024 to 125 in 2029 and 41 LPN graduates to 75.
“Propel NC shifts how community colleges are funded to a labor-focused model that truly aligns with the workforce needs in local communities,” said David Lowry, president and CEO of UNC Health Caldwell. “The additional funding provided in this model will allow CCC&TI to expand offerings in key health care areas and produce more graduates and health care professionals.”
The college also hopes to grow enrollment in the construction trades, specifically electrical, plumbing, and HVAC, and their electrical lineworker program by over 50% in the next five years.
Electrical lineworkers were some of the first to respond during Hurricane Helene, helping repair critical infrastructure and restore power to millions of customers. The average salary of an electrical lineworker is $78,250.
“The Propel NC funding model will help CCC&TI’s lineworker program maintain its standards of excellence and continue producing first-rate graduates who have experience working with industry-standard technologies,” said Doug Johnson, CEO of Blue Ridge Energy.
Check out this one-pager from CCC&TI on the impact of Propel NC to learn more about how the funding model would increase enrollment in high-demand high wage jobs in their local area.
