North Carolina A&T State University, a historically Black educational institution in Greensboro, has announced that it has entered into a partnership agreement with three community colleges in an effort to increase the number of nurses with bachelor’s degrees. About 55 percent of the nurses in North Carolina begin practicing with only an associate’s degree. But studies have shown that there are lower rates of mortality at facilities where nurses have bachelor’s degrees.
Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown (43 percent Black student body), Davidson County Community College in Thomasville (18 percent Black student body), and Vance-Granville Community College in Henderson (37 percent Black student body) will join North Carolina A&T in what is being called the Regionally Increasing Baccalaureate Nurses Initiative.
Beginning this fall, nursing students will be able to file an application for joint admission to one of the community colleges for their first three years of study. During this time, they would also take one online course through North Carolina A&T each semester. They would then automatically transfer credits to finish their bachelor’s degree in one additional year at North Carolina A&T.
