UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont Community College — the Charlotte region's two largest higher-ed institutions — are strengthening their commitment to growing the workforce in Charlotte-Mecklenburg through an updated partnership agreement.
The agreement, recently signed by the leaders of the two institutions, builds on 49erNext, UNC Charlotte’s successful co-admission program that first launched in 2019, and formally recognizes a new pathway for Central Piedmont students to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the high-demand area of data science.
“Central Piedmont Community College is UNC Charlotte’s largest transfer partner by far,” said UNC Charlotte Chancellor Sharon L. Gaber. “This renewed agreement affirms our long-standing commitment to provide accessible, affordable, quality higher education to students here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg.”
Kandi Deitemeyer, Central Piedmont president, said, “The 49erNext program has been a great success because it offers students a direct pathway to a four-year degree as well as an avenue to greater economic mobility. The program is a tremendous benefit to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community as we seek to produce more individuals with bachelor’s degrees to meet our growing workforce demands. 49erNext also is a wonderful example of the region’s two largest institutions of higher education working together to serve students and be economic development accelerators.”
Through the formalized agreement, Central Piedmont students in the Associate in Applied Science programs in Information Technology/Data Analysis, Information Technology/ Full Stack Programming and Information Technology/ Software Development now have a path to pursue a bachelor’s degree in data science, the first degree of its kind in North Carolina. Students can transfer up to 64 credit hours toward their bachelor’s degree.
A bachelor’s in data science, offered through Charlotte's fast-growing School of Data Science, creates opportunities for high-demand careers such as data science engineer, data analyst, research engineer and data science developer.
A similar data science transfer program launched in 2021 for students at Wake Technical Community College.
Several new agreements are in the pipeline between UNC Charlotte and Central Piedmont, as the institutions continue to streamline the transfer process for students.
For 2022-23:
- About 17% of Charlotte’s 23,000 undergraduates had transfer credits from Central Piedmont.
- 16% of UNC Charlotte bachelor’s graduates were Central Piedmont transfers.
Top choice in North Carolina
UNC Charlotte is the No. 1 destination for North Carolina community college transfer students. 49erNext first launched with Central Piedmont in 2019 and has grown to include six community college partners. The program maximizes transfer credits through degree plans and regular data exchange between UNC Charlotte and the participating community college to ensure students’ progress toward timely completion of a baccalaureate degree.
Last fall, 93% of 49erNext transfer students were admitted into their preferred majors.