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“My experience with the Pennsylvania College Advising Corps transformed my entire career trajectory,” said Nicole Ditillo in 2022, long before she knew she would be selected to lead the implementation of Boost for the N.C. Community College System (NCCCS).
Boost is a new program designed to increase completion rates and move students into high-wage, high-demand careers, and Ditillo started as the founding director in May 2025.
“Nicole has already shown exceptional leadership as director of the NC State College Advising Corps, where she built lasting partnerships with myFutureNC,” says Cecilia Holden, president and CEO of myFutureNC. “Her passion, experience, and deep commitment to student success will be key to advancing Boost’s impact across North Carolina.”
Ditillo first served as a college adviser in rural Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, where she says her experience “ignited her passion for college access.”
In that two-year role, she served two high schools where she held more than 1,300 one-on-one meetings with students, helping them think about which colleges would be a good fit before guiding students and their parents through the application and financial aid process.
She learned how to foster a college-going culture, she says, “by partnering with school counselors, teachers, school administration, coaches, and parents.”
Most importantly, she says, “The College Advising Corps taught me that one of the greatest gifts an educator can bestow on a student is four words: ‘I believe in you.””
Ditillo landed at NC State, earning her master’s and doctoral degree while studying college persistence among rural college students. Her nearly 400-page dissertation found in 2019 that “the rural population represents more than one-third of the population of North Carolina, yet they are reflected among only 18.1% of four-year college graduates.”
Her academic research explored the strong connection rural students have to their home community, how their rural background influences their motivation in college, and how rural poverty shapes career aspirations and trajectories.
As the program director for the NC State College Advising Corps, Ditillo supervised a team of 20, all working to increase “opportunities for students in rural North Carolina by making education and training beyond high school more accessible.” Her team supported more than “3,000 seniors every year to achieve their dreams of pursing higher education and becoming the first in their families to attend college.”
As part of that job, the corps profiled different community colleges across North Carolina.
Ditillo’s dissertation and work experience make the case that North Carolina has an opportunity to bolster college persistence and completion, invest in human capital, and establish ourselves as a leader in educational attainment and economic mobility.
All of that was before Arnold Ventures made the $35.6 million investment in Boost — the largest private grant the community college system has received — which Ditillo will now lead.
As a student herself, Ditillo excelled as a student-athlete. And she learned you cannot survive on popcorn and jelly beans.
As a professional, she has worked in every aspect of the college experience that impacts student persistence: as a mentor and an instructor, in residence and summer bridge, and more. She has practiced with now tens of thousands of students what it means to believe in them.
Boost will serve students across the state, starting with eight community colleges in 2025 and seven more in 2026.
“Nicole’s experience expanding and supporting pathways to postsecondary education makes her a natural fit for the NC Boost director role,” says Audrey J. “AJ” Jaeger, executive director of the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research. “Her ability to collaborate across sectors to advance student success aligns seamlessly with Boost’s mission to accelerate achievement and strengthen workforce readiness across North Carolina.”
Ditillo grew up in rural Harford County, Maryland, where she first learned to believe in herself. She loves the outdoors and crabcakes, double majored in English and psychology, played lacrosse, and has two cats, Poe and Porter.
She is married and also has two daughters. She believes in them, too.
Editor’s note: Arnold Ventures and the Belk Center support the work of EducationNC.
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