If you’re a newcomer with teenage children, you may find their future just down the street or one town away. North Carolina boasts some of the nation’s finest colleges and universities, and the Cape Fear region is home to several top-quality educational institutions.

Highly ranked University of North Carolina at Wilmington has a 60-year history of quality education. From modest beginnings in 1947 as Wilmington College, UNCW registered 11,650 students for the 2005-06 school year. At its 650-acre campus along College Road, UNC Wilmington offers 73 undergraduate degree programs and 28 graduate degree programs. Its acclaimed doctoral program in marine biology is one of only three on the East Coast.

The school is currently undergoing a $108 million construction project – the greatest in UNCW history – that will add three new classroom structures and renovate eight other buildings.

UNC Wilmington consistently has one of the highest graduation rates for student-athletes among NCAA Division I public universities in North Carolina. The NCAA’s first Academic Progress Rate report ranked UNCW second only to William & Mary among CAA institutions.

In 2003, its men’s basketball team earned its second-consecutive NCAA bid after winning its third CAA championship in four years. The men’s track and field team won its seventh CAA title in 2005.

The average class size is 25 to 35 students, and the student-faculty ratio is 16:1. UNCW ranks among the highest in the UNC system for average freshman SAT scores with 1,134, and it has the highest graduation rate in the UNC System besides UNC Chapel Hill.

For the eighth-consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report ranked UNCW as one of the top ten public regional universities in the South. UNCW is a leader in marine science education, attracting students from all over the world.

The Center for Marine Science Research (www.uncw.edu/cmsr), which rests on the waterway in the southern part of New Hanover County, provides multidisciplinary research programs for graduate and undergraduate students.

UNCW’s Aquarius (www.uncw.edu/aquarius), the world’s only underwater laboratory, is located 63 feet below the surface at Conch Reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. Aquarius provides scientists the opportunity to live underwater and study the coastal environment.

Your first visit to the UNCW campus might seem familiar to you if you are a fan of Dawson’s Creek. It was the home of the show’s Capeside High School.

Cape Fear Community College, part of the North Carolina Community College System and accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, is the fastest-growing community college in the state, with more than 27,000 students served throughout the region. Approximately 7,000 students are enrolled full time.

The school, which offers 60 technical programs of study as well as college-transfer degrees, is in the midst of an expansion program. Its riverfront campus located in Wilmington’s historic district has expanded to include allied health programs, a day-care center that will serve as a practicum for child-care worker students, a library, work force training center, science center and a student activity center.

In addition to its main campus, CFCC also offers its North Campus, which opened in 2002, and two Pender County campuses located in Burgaw and Hampstead. Day and evening classes are offered at all campuses.

CFCC’s Small Business Center (www.cfcc.edu/sbc) provides free and small-fee assistance and seminars, and local manufacturers rely on CFCC to develop and run job-specific training programs. A newly developed truck driver training program has already had considerable success placing graduates into the work force.

Brunswick Community College has served the area since 1979. Like Cape Fear Community College, the school is part of the North Carolina System of Community Colleges. It offers associate’s degrees in health care, applied science, public service and technical programs as well as college transfer and continuing education programs.

Miller-Motte Technical College offers a range of certificate and degree programs.

The Shaw University extension campus in downtown Wilmington – part of a statewide network of extension campuses for the Raleigh-based university – offers a variety of bachelor’s degrees. Classes, designed for full-time workers, are held in the evenings and on Saturdays.

Mount Olive College operates an extension office at Landfall Business Center Executive Suites, offering four degree programs: early childhood education, management and organizational development, criminal justice administration and the heritage program, which provides core courses needed for associate’s or bachelor’s degree programs. Students with about 60 credit hours of college work already completed can enter Mount Olive and finish a four-year degree in 14 months, attending class during the evening or on Saturday. Nearly 400 students, 90 percent of whom hold full-time jobs, are enrolled in the program. Classes meet one night each week, so some students are able to finish their program in just 59 weeks.

In nearby Whiteville, Southeastern Community College offers associate degrees, diplomas and certificates in a variety of programs as well as continuing education and distance learning.

One of the 16 schools in the University of North Carolina System, UNC Pembroke offers 55 bachelor’s degree and 15 master’s degree programs. It is the safest school in the UNC system and among the most diverse, according to U.S. News and World Report.

PHOTO COURTESY OF UNC WILMINGTON

University of North Carolina at Wilmington
601 S. College Road
Wilmington, NC 28403
910-962-3000
www.uncw.edu

Cape Fear Community College
411 N. Front St.
Wilmington, NC 28401
910-362-7000
www.cfcc.net

Brunswick Community College
50 College Road
Supply, NC 28462
800-754-1050
www.brunswick.cc.nc.us

Miller-Motte Technical College
5000 Market St.
Wilmington, NC 28405
910-392-4660
www.miller-motte.com

Shaw University – Wilmington campus
224 N. Front St.
Wilmington, NC 28401
910-763-9091
www.shawuniversity.edu

Mount Olive College – Wilmington campus
1422 Commonwealth Drive
Wilmington, NC 28403
800-300-7478
www.moc.edu

Southeastern Community College
PO Box 151
Whiteville, NC 28472
910-642-7141
www.sccnc.edu

University of North Carolina Pembroke
PO Box 1510
Pembroke, NC 28372
800-949-8627
www.uncp.edu