These partner institutions reflect an intentional range of institutional types across higher education. Together, they represent a broader set of faculty roles, missions, and career paths than a single research-intensive university alone, including community colleges, liberal arts colleges, regional public universities, and large public research institutions.
Durham Technical Community College
DTCC is a public two-year community college located in Durham, NC, serving students pursuing workforce credentials, technical training, and transfer pathways to four-year institutions. DTCC has more than 7,500 students enrolled in associate degree programs and almost 14,000 in continuing education programs that prepare students for vocational careers, technical fields, or further academic study. It has a growing University Transfer program that allows the student to complete up to two years of course work for a bachelor’s degree. The wide variety of freshman- and sophomore-level courses satisfies general education requirements at senior institutions across the United States and enables students to transfer as juniors to institutions in the University of North Carolina system after acceptance at the four-year university. More than 100 DTCC full-time faculty hold master’s or PhD degrees.
Elon University
Elon University is a private university with a strong liberal arts foundation and a teacher-scholar model that emphasizes undergraduate teaching alongside active faculty engagement in research and mentoring. Located 30 to 40 minutes northwest of Duke on 575 acres in the town of Elon, North Carolina, it has more than 5,500 undergraduates and more than 700 graduate students. Elon has almost 400 full-time faculty members, with 88 percent holding the highest degree in their field.
Guilford College
Guilford is a private liberal arts college founded in 1837 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), and its curriculum and campus culture continue to reflect Quaker values such as community, reflection, and social responsibility. Located 75 minutes west of Duke in Greensboro, North Carolina, the student body includes more than 1,200 traditional undergraduates and almost 1,000 adult students. The school offers 36 majors and boasts almost 120 full-time faculty members, more than 90 percent of whom have terminal degrees in their field.
Meredith College
Meredith College is a private women’s liberal arts college with a strong emphasis on undergraduate teaching, alongside coeducational graduate programs. Located in Raleigh, it is one of the largest private women’s colleges in the Southeast. In addition to a strong undergraduate program for women, Meredith offers co-educational graduate programs in business, nutrition and education. Total enrollment includes more than 1,800 undergraduates in more than 70 majors, minors, and concentrations, and more than 300 graduate students. Meredith has more than 120 full-time faculty members, more than 90 percent of whom hold terminal degrees.
North Carolina Central University
NCCU is a public, historically Black college and university (HBCU) and a comprehensive institution offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs, with a mission rooted in access and community engagement. Located in Durham and part of the University of North Carolina system, it was the first public liberal arts institution in the United States founded for African-Americans. This comprehensive university offers almost 40 undergraduate degree programs and about as many graduate and professional programs. The student body includes more than 6,300 undergraduates and almost 1,800 graduate and professional students. The Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, a $12 million state-of-the-art facility, promotes the interdisciplinary study of human diseases. NCCU has more than 430 full-time faculty members, almost 60 percent of whom hold a doctorate.
North Carolina State University
NC State is a large, public land-, sea-, and space-grant research university and an R1 institution, with historic strengths in engineering, agriculture, and applied sciences. Located in Raleigh and part of the University of North Carolina system, it serves more than 34,000 students across a wide range of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs.