Year after year, NCSSM is ranked among the most best public high schools in the United States, often claiming first place in annual ratings. On the left is NCSSM-Morganton, with NCSSM-Durham on the right. (photo: John Hansen)
For more than four decades, NCSSM has produced graduates and educational innovations that have made it one of the most respected public high schools in America. For the first few decades after the school opened in 1980, it enjoyed affiliate status within the University of North Carolina System, which drew a dotted line between the school and the public universities in North Carolina, encouraging NCSSM graduates to remain in North Carolina for college and, hopefully, build careers in communities large and small throughout the state.
In 2007, NCSSM and the UNC System doubled down on their shared commitment to economic and educational innovations in North Carolina when, with legislative action, NCSSM became the 17th full member of the UNC System. This move opened up new opportunities for NCSSM and its students to enhance North Carolina’s future, and kicked off a series of agreements that, over the next several years, cemented the connections between NCSSM and its university siblings. Today, those agreements – on university credit for many NCSSM courses (called articulation agreements), guaranteed admission to any UNC System university, and tuition waivers – more than ever create a compelling argument for NCSSM graduates to further their education in North Carolina.
NCSSM has, since 2010, had some measure of articulation agreements with UNC System schools that specify which NCSSM courses are eligible for credit at each university without requiring an AP exam or other qualifying exam. By 2021, agreements had been established with all 16 System universities. This means that, depending on the university and the number of credit-bearing courses taken, an NCSSM graduate can potentially enter college as an incoming junior.
The articulation agreements are “living” agreements, says Jennifer Betz, NCSSM’s registrar, with new credit-bearing classes added regularly.
“We’re always creating new and innovative courses at NCSSM and adding them to the course catalog, so a stagnant list of transferable credit courses would not benefit our students quite so much,” she says. “So, it’s an ongoing process to coordinate with the universities to make sure that the students who take those courses get university credit for them when and where possible.”
Another System benefit offered to hard-working NCSSM students is that all NCSSM Residential program graduates who successfully complete all of NCSSM’s graduation requirements and remain in good standing with a weighted GPA at or above the threshold set by the UNC System president and NCSSM chancellor (currently 3.5) are guaranteed admission to any UNC System universities to which they apply. Or, more simply put, if you come to NCSSM, and you work hard, you can go anywhere you want in the System when you graduate.
“This provides a tremendous opportunity for our kids at institutions that are already very highly ranked,” says Suzanne Gavenus, NCSSM-Morganton’s Director of Counseling and Wellness. “We have 16 well-regarded universities that offer a different experience, and different sets of majors, so our students really have a lot to choose from right here in the UNC System.”
While hard work and course credit definitely move the needle, enrollment in college ultimately comes down to one thing: cost. The State of North Carolina and the UNC System stepped in once again to make certain that any NCSSM graduate eager to lift up the state would be given the opportunity to do so. Beginning with the Class of 2021, and continuing as long as funded by the North Carolina General Assembly, all eligible NCSSM Residential graduates immediately enrolling in a constituent institution of the University of North Carolina may apply for the UNC Tuition Grant. This program is an incredible opportunity for NCSSM graduates to remain in North Carolina and earn an undergraduate degree from one of the best public university systems in the nation at a significantly reduced cost.
These efforts are paying off. Based on available records, nearly 74 percent of NCSSM’s Class of 2025 enrolled in UNC System schools. And for the years when the tuition waiver has been available (2004-2010 and 2022-2025), 75 percent of graduates immediately enrolled in a System school, marking a 14 percent increase from the numbers available for the non-waiver years (2000-2003 and 2011-2020).
Zoe James is one of those students. The Holly Springs native and 2025 NCSSM-Morganton graduate is now a freshman at UNC-Chapel Hill where she intends to study biology. While Chapel Hill was her dream school growing up, she considered other options as well. In the end, her love for her home state and the incentives offered her to enroll in-state made the decision clear. She was staying here.
“I am a very, very proud North Carolinian and I really wanted to stay here,” Zoe says, “and I am definitely thankful for the opportunities that I was given by going to NCSSM and now to a school like UNC. North Carolina is a great state, and it’s a great place to put down roots and build community, and I want to contribute in the ways that I can and give back to North Carolinians who gave those opportunities to me.”
Opportunity. It’s what NCSSM and its membership in the UNC System is all about. It’s an incredible example of what can happen when a place’s people, its government, and its institutions align in a common mission.
That, says Gavenus, is a win-win. “When our students choose to stay here for their education and their career opportunities, then we can only benefit from everything that they’ve gained from a wonderful NCSSM education and what our nationally ranked university system has to offer.”
