Until the beginning of October, North Carolina State University is taking applications for their Elevate program for open postsecondary education.
Elevate is a new university-wide program that will give students with intellectual or developmental challenges credentials that don’t lead to a degree. The College of Education at N.C. State is where it is located. The school hopes that by the end of the four-year program, students will have better personal, intellectual, and social skills.
Elevate program director Tamira White said that kids will be able to look into jobs in math, science, technology, engineering, the arts, and technology. She also said that they would be able to use a lot of resources on campus and in the towns nearby.
White said, “We will use cutting-edge technology to give each Elevate student a chance to grow academically and socially and get ready to start their successful careers.”
White says that the General Assembly gave money to make a program to give students more educational chances. This program became known as Elevate.
Applicants must be at least 18 years old and live in North Carolina in order to be given Elevate. People who want to apply must have been diagnosed with an intellectual disability and show proof that they are eligible for special education programs and an Individual Education Program.
There are four steps to applying to Elevate. After filling out the university’s online application form, candidates must also send in the following extra items:
- Proof of an intellectual disability
- High school transcript(s)
- Two recommendations
- Parent/guardian questionnaire
- Student questionnaire
The form must be turned in by October 1, and all supporting papers must be sent by October 15.
After their applications are looked over, a small group of people will be asked to come in for an interview on campus between the end of October and the beginning of November. Then, six students will be chosen by an admissions committee to join the school.
The group will be made up of Elevate team members, people from N.C. State’s College of Education, and people from N.C. State’s Division of Academic and Student Affairs. The university said that everyone on the group has experience and training working with people who have disabilities.
Starting on November 15, students will be told about the state of their applications one at a time. The school starts in the spring semester of 2025.
The school said in an email that every student accepted into the spring 2025 cohort will get a grant that will pay for their tuition and fees for the first year.
These students will have to commute for the next spring term because they are the first Elevate students to be accepted. Housing will be offered for the semester in the fall of 2025.
Beth Feur, one of the assistant teaching professors in the program, has done study on self-determination outcomes for a variety of learners. She said that her goal is to make the classroom a place where students from all walks of life feel free to speak their minds and have control over their lives.
Feur said, “In the end, I want to make a learning environment that is deeply rooted in community, where students can use and apply their own knowledge and personal experiences, and where we all work together to co-construct knowledge and learn new things from each other.”
The university said in a news release that the program’s success depends on students doing well in school, getting jobs, growing as people, living on their own, and making friends.
White said that people should pick Elevate because it gives them the chance to get “top-tier” job and school training. For almost 10 years, she said, the show has been her dream.
White said, “I’m from Durham and I’m excited about new ways to help North Carolina students in the Triangle and the communities around it become better adults.”