A study concerning the need for community colleges in North Carolina was made in 1952 by Dr. Allan S. Hurlburt. It was not, however, until 1957, during Governor Luther H. Hodges administration, that a real beginning was made by the state legislature, through the passage of a Community College Act, to initiate and develop community colleges. The Act placed the general administration of such community colleges under the North Carolina Board of Higher Education (since reorganized as the University Board of Governors).

This movement to develop community colleges in 1957 was accompanied by a vigorous effort to provide an educational program in industrial education. Funds were made available by the 1957 General Assembly to the State Board of Education for initiating a statewide system of industrial education centers. These centers were established for training adults and selected high school students, thus providing a better trained labor supply for the state.

The leadership of three individuals was especially outstanding in conceiving and developing the centers: The Honorable Luther H. Hodges, Governor of North Carolina (1954-1960); Dr. W. Dallas Herring, Chairman of the State Board of Education (1957 to 1977); and A. Wade Martin, State Supervisor of Trade and Industrial Education (1957-1961).

In 1959, the General Assembly officially authorized and designated the industrial education center (I.E.C.) as a type of vocational school, and placed the administration of such schools under the State Board of Education and local boards of education. An industrial education center had as its primary objective the provision of that phase of education which deals with the skill and intellectual development of individuals for entrance into and progress in, trade, industrial, and technical jobs.

The industrial education center was an area school offering technical and skilled training to selected high school youth and adults. By 1961, there were 18 industrial education centers in partial or full operation and two in the planning stage. The number of students enrolled for that year was 23,000.

In order to make the I.E.C. program more accessible to the people of North Carolina, an extension unit plan was approved by the State Board of Education on February 2, 1961. Five extension units were begun as branches of a parent I.E.C. They were operated by an agreement between the board of trustees of an I.E.C. and a local board of education.

Developing at the same time as the industrial education centers in 1961 were five community (junior) colleges under local trustees and the State Board of Higher Education. These community colleges were College of The Albemarle in Elizabeth City, Wilmington College in Wilmington, Mecklenburg and Charlotte Colleges in Charlotte, and Asheville-Biltmore College in Asheville. In January of 1963, Gaston College at Dallas was chartered, becoming the sixth community college to be approved under the 1957 community college act. Both the community colleges and the industrial education centers served needs for education beyond the high school. Thus the two educational programs, even though organized and administered under separate state boards, directed their efforts toward education beyond the high school.

In 1961, the need for better planning resulted in the appointment by Governor Terry Sanford of the Governor's Commission on Education Beyond the High School (The Carlyle Commission) to study the methods for expanding educational offerings at the post high-school level. This commission, which submitted its report to the governor in 1962, recommended that the two types of institutions be brought into one administrative organization under the State Board of Education and under local boards of trustees. In this way, all of the state's two-year higher education needs (whether academic, technical, or vocational) could be developed under one administration and one educational system—the comprehensive community college system.

In July of 1963, the General Assembly, in line with the recommendations of the Carlyle Commission, enacted into law G.S. 115A, which provided for the establishment of a Department of Community Colleges under the State Board of Education.

Of the five community colleges which were operating under the 1957 Community College Act, three were converted into four-year state colleges and two were brought under the State Board of Education as community colleges. The two community colleges were College of the Albemarle in Elizabeth City and Mecklenburg College in Charlotte. The latter was combined with the Central Industrial Education Center in Charlotte to form Central Piedmont Community College.

Gaston College opened in 1964 and operated for one year under the 1957 Act. On July 1, 1965, it came under the provisions of G.S. 115A. Gaston Technical Institute, a division of the School of Engineering of North Carolina State University at Raleigh, along with Gastonia Industrial Education Center, were also formally made a part of Gaston College at this time.

The Department of Community Colleges was also given administrative control over the 20 industrial education centers previously established by authority of the General Assembly.

In addition to the twenty (20) I.E.C.'s, the six original community colleges, and the five extension units previously mentioned, new extension units continued to be established after the passage of G.S. 115A. One industrial education center, in Onslow County, was also established after the passage of the community college act.

Since 1963, under the direction of the State Board of Education, several completely new community colleges have been established and all of the industrial education centers and extension units, while continuing to carry out the purposes for which they were established, have expanded their offerings and are now called either technical institutes or community colleges.

General Statute 115-D-l provides:

"for the establishment, organization, and administration of a system of educational institutions throughout the State offering courses of instruction in one or more of the general areas of two-year college parallel, technical, vocational, and adult programs."

The law further states that:

"the major purpose of each and every institution operating under the provisions of this chapter shall be and shall continue to be the offering of vocational and technical education and training, and of basic, high school level, academic education needed in order to profit from vocational and technical education, for students who are high school graduates or who are beyond the compulsory age limit of the public school system and who have left the public schools."

Thus, the State of North Carolina, through legislative action and through State Board of Education policy decisions, has assigned to the institutions in the North Carolina Community College System, whether community college or technical institute, a specific role in the accomplishment of certain broad educational objectives found to be necessary for the common welfare of the people of the state. Along with the roles assigned to the public schools and to the four-year colleges and universities, the community college system makes possible the realization of the concept of total educational opportunity.

The purpose of the North Carolina Community College System is to fill the gap in educational opportunity existing between high school and the senior college and university. In carrying out this role, the technical institutes and community colleges offer academic, cultural and occupational education, and training opportunities from basic educational through the two-year college level, at a convenient time and place and at a nominal cost, to anyone of eligible age who can learn and whose needs can be met by these institutions.

Consistent with this purpose, the following goals have been established to guide long-range planning:

1. To open thedoor of each institution to all persons of eligible age, who show an interest in and who can profit from the instruction offered, with no individual denied an educational opportunity because of race, sex, or creed.
2. To provide a variety of quality, post-secondary educational opportunities below the baccalaureate level consistent with the abilities, desires, and needs of the students to fit them with the skills, competencies, knowledge, and attitudes necessary in a democratic society.
3. To provide for industry, agriculture, business, government, and service occupations the pre-service and inservice training that requires less than baccalaureate level preparation.
4. To provide specific training programs designed to assist in fostering and inducing orderly accelerated economic growth in the state.
5. To provide activities and learning opportunities which meet the adult educational and community service needs of the residents of the community served by an institution.
6. To direct the resources of the community college system toward a search for solutions to urgent community problems.
7. To provide, in both curriculum and non-curriculum programs, the education needed to assist individuals in developing social and economic competence and in achieving self-fulfillment.
8. To improve institutional services and excellence in training opportunities through constant evaluation and study.

The accomplishment of these goals requires understanding of and commitment to the role assigned to the community college system, including especially the significance of the open door admission policy with selective placement in programs, provisions made student retention and follow-up, comprehensive and balanced curriculum and extension offerings, and instruction adapted to individual student needs. It also requires that each institution develop fully the unique educational needs of its own service area; that it adapt its educational programs to such needs; and that it maintain effective correlation with the public schools, with four-year colleges and universities, and with employers in the area.

Open door admission of both high school graduates and others who are 18.years old or older but not high school graduates is an essential requirement for filling the educational opportunity gap. The door is also open to the school dropouts between 16 and 18 years old, providing: that their needs can better be served in one of these institutions rather than in the public schools.