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May 14, 2025

Direct Admissions is Here!

College admission in NC just got easier.

We have exciting news for rising high school seniors across the state: NC College Connect is back for the 2025-2026 school year and it’s now even better! NC College Connect is now a direct admission program that offers college admission to eligible NC high school students at participating North Carolina institutions, allowing students to bypass the traditional application process – including essays, test scores and recommendation letters. NC College Connect serves to expand access to higher education opportunities in North Carolina, especially among those students that may not have envisioned college in their future. We’ll need your help to educate your districts, counselors and students about this program – and the changes for the year to come.

Here's an overview of the details you need to know.

• All North Carolina public high school students, including charter school students, entering their senior year with a weighted GPA of 2.8 and above, who already meet minimum course requirements, are matched to a tailored list of participating NC colleges and universities where they already meet admissions requirements, bypassing the traditional application process.
  
  
• The list of participating colleges and universities has grown, including more UNC System institutions, and now, North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities. NC Community Colleges are still participating, too!
  
  
• Last, but not least, this year students are directly admitted – this is a big change from the simplified application of last year. To accept their admission to the NC College Connect schools of their choice, students will only need to fill out a short form including contact and demographic information on CFNC.org.

How can you help?

• Start by familiarizing yourself with NC College Connect updates to direct admissions. It’s no longer just a simple application.

• Share the one-pager with students and families.This is important since eligible students will receive a letter to their home address in August, before school starts.

• Join us for an upcoming NC College Connect Overview Webinar, where we will share important updates and engage in meaningful discussions about the upcoming school year. This will be recorded and posted if you can’t make it.  Below are the webinar dates and times:
  
  May 19, 2025 at 3:00 p.m.-3:45 p.m.
  May 21, 2025 at 9:00 a.m.-9:45 a.m.  

• Develop a plan to support students in the Fall with the direct admissions program.

Questions?

As always, thank you for your enthusiasm and support. We look forward to sharing more resources soon. In the meantime, please reach out to us at NCCollegeConnect@dpi.nc.gov with any questions, and have a great summer!