VGCC ready to welcome former ITT students

ALL 130 campuses of ITT Technical Institute, including the campus in Durham, abruptly closed earlier this month, leaving a number of students in the region struggling to find options to continue their education. Officials at Vance-Granville Community College are inviting those students to enroll and have their transcripts evaluated to potentially transfer the credits they have already earned. 

“Many ITT Tech students have had their academic and career plans interrupted, and we want to support them through their transition to a new educational home,” said Jeffrey Allen, VGCC’s dean of enrollment and outreach. “We will work with them on an individual basis to determine the courses and programs that can help them stay on track and achieve their goals. The good news is that in Vance-Granville, you have a proven, trusted, local institution, where tuition is $76 per credit hour, far less than the $493 per credit hour that they were paying to ITT Tech.” Resources to help students pay for their educational expenses include the VanGuarantee , VGCC’s new scholarship program for eligible residents of the four-county area served by the college.

In addition to the Durham campus, ITT Tech had two locations in Charlotte and one in High Point. Students from any ITT campus are welcome to apply to VGCC, which offers many courses online as well as on four campuses in Vance, Granville, Franklin and Warren counties.

Through its “ VOLT ” programs, VGCC offers five two-year degrees in a 100-percent online format: Associate in Arts (College Transfer) , Business Administration , Criminal Justice , Medical Office Administration – Coding Specialist , and Global Logistics and Distribution Management Technology . In addition, students can take online courses in combination with traditional face-to-face courses to complete any VGCC degree program. Earlier this year, VGCC was recognized as the top two-year college in North Carolina for online programs by the organization, “Accredited Schools Online.”

Vance-Granville offers a variety of associate degree, diploma and certificate programs , and is also home to a bachelor’s degree program in Criminal Justice through the “ Eagle Voyage ” partnership with North Carolina Central University.

VGCC is already accepting applications for the spring semester, which will begin Jan. 9, 2017.

One student who already made the transition from ITT Tech to VGCC is Angelica Garcia-Avelar of Butner, who was studying information technology at the for-profit school in Durham before transferring to the community college last year. Now in her third semester, Garcia-Avelar is set to graduate in 2017 with a Computer Technology Integration – Web Design & Support degree. “I’m glad I made the move to VGCC,” Garcia-Avelar said. “I thought it would be a better place to continue my education. I’m much happier here.” She added that Dean Cecilia Wheeler and the staff at South Campus , which is near her home, had been very helpful to her. Garcia-Avelar was able to transfer six courses (18 credit hours) from ITT Tech to VGCC. She has taken both online and on-campus classes at VGCC and made the President’s List for both semesters so far, indicating that she earned a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

For more information, former ITT students should contact VGCC Admissions at (252) 738-3234.