SANFORD - The Associate in Engineering degree will be offered at Central Carolina Community College in Fall 2016, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The Associate in Engineering degree is a planned program of study consisting of a minimum of 60 semester hours of credit. This program prepares students to transfer courses or the degree in its entirety to a four-year senior institution. The degree plan includes all required general education and prerequisite courses that are acceptable to all state-funded Bachelor of Engineering programs. Students who follow the degree progression plan will meet the entrance requirements at all of the North Carolina public Bachelor of Science Engineering programs as a transfer student.

Within the degree program, students will complete calculus courses, advanced physics and engineering courses, in addition to other general education requirements, such as English composition, economics, and social/behavioral sciences. The Associate in Engineering degree will help prepare students for aerospace, mechanical, chemical, computer, electrical, nuclear, civil and bio-engineering programs, among others. The average annual starting salary for Bachelor of Engineering graduates is more than $50,000.

Admission to Bachelor of Engineering programs is highly competitive and admission is not guaranteed. To be eligible for the transfer of credits under the Associate in Engineering to the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Articulation Agreement, community college graduates must obtain a grade of "C" or better in each course and an overall GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.

The Associate of Engineering degree will transfer to the following senior institutions for the Bachelor of Engineering degree: East Carolina University, N.C. A&T State University, N.C. State University, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Western Carolina University.

"This will be an affordable opportunity for potential engineering students to begin their pathway toward a Bachelor of Engineering," said Dr. Brian S. Merritt, CCCC Vice President of Student Learning. "The N.C. Community College System worked with UNC faculty across the state to make this new agreement possible. This new pathway of transferable courses is a great way for students to reach their end goal of an engineering major at the senior institution."

"We are delighted to add the Associate in Engineering degree program to our other successful transfer programs," said Scott Byington, CCCC Dean of Arts, Sciences and Advising. "Increasingly, students and families are recognizing that an excellent education and the first steps to a quality Bachelor's degree begin at CCCC. We look forward to working with students in this program and preparing them for success at some of the state's best senior institutions."

For more information on this program, contact CCCC Physics & Geology Instructor Lisa Knight at 919-718-7467, or by email at lknight@cccc.edu.

More information on the Associate in Engineering program can be found at the website: www.cccc.edu/curriculum/majors/
universitytransfer/engineering.