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Davidson‑Davie College cites rising enrollment, Workforce Pell eligibility and $3 million federal award for health sciences center
Summary
President Jenny Varner told the Davie County board the college served over 13,000 students in 2024–25, reported steady enrollment gains and dual‑enrollment growth, highlighted new short‑term workforce pathways eligible for ‘Workforce Pell,’ and said the college secured a $3,000,000 federal appropriation for a planned health sciences center.
President Jenny Varner of Davidson‑Davie Community College told the Davie County Board of Commissioners that the college served more than 13,000 students in the 2024–25 year and is seeing steady enrollment increases.
“We served over 13,000 students,” Varner said, noting growth across degree, continuing‑education and basic‑skills programs and a roughly 6% enrollment increase compared with the prior year. She emphasized robust performance measures — particularly in English, math and curriculum completion — and steady growth in dual‑enrollment participation from Davie County high school students.
Varner described the college's expanding short‑term workforce training and a new online support program for primarily remote students. She also explained recent federal changes that will expand financial aid access for those programs: “Workforce Pell means that Pell … can now be applied to some of those shorter‑term programs that were not eligible before,” she said, adding that the state must approve eligible programs and that implementation will unfold over the coming year.
Varner also announced that the college secured a federal appropriation to support its planned health sciences center. “We received a $3,000,000 federal appropriation to support this health sciences center,” she said, and credited the congressman’s office for helping move the request forward.
Commissioners asked about student transfer outcomes and online course formats. College staff said data for the 2022–23 academic year show about 63% of students who completed transfer work and moved to UNC system schools finished a bachelor’s degree within three to four years. On instructional modes, the college said most online courses are asynchronous and self‑paced, with a subset of synchronous or flexible courses that allow live participation when needed.
Varner closed by saying the college will continue to align short‑term credentialing, workforce programs and scholarship efforts to help students “get into their jobs faster,” and thanked the county for ongoing partnership and support.
The college presentation concluded with a question‑and‑answer session; board staff noted they will provide more localized per‑student funding figures if requested by commissioners.
