Gov. Josh Stein said the budget makes “sound investments” in community colleges, though he also noted that “we have real flaws.”
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
North Carolina’s $34.4 billion 2026–27 budget, which Democratic Gov. Josh Stein signed into law Tuesday, eliminated funding for a decades-old program designed to support minority male students in higher education.
The Minority Male Success Initiative received $3.24 million for fiscal years 2022–26, or about $810,000 each year. Funds went to 21 community colleges across the state, and in FY 2024–25, the program served more than 27,000 students, according to a program report.
The program, which began as a pilot program at six community colleges in 2003, was intended to help previously underserved male students continue and graduate from community colleges by providing them with resources including formal counseling and academic coaching. In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly began allocating state funding for the program in four-year cycles.
Last year, the program was rebranded and refocused as the Student Success Program “to improve the retention and graduation rate of underachieving students in the community college system with the goal of strengthening the workforce pipeline by increasing the number of graduate graduates within the program.”
The move comes as state governments across the country have implemented anti-diversity, equality and inclusion legislation. North Carolina officially ended DEI programs at public institutions of higher education last month, though that was after the program was renamed.
Community colleges are now tasked with rethinking how to fund certain services.
Carol Spalding, president of Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, one of the colleges participating in the program, said the loss of funding requires the institution to review how it will support student success services, even though the college is focused on helping “every student” complete college and succeed.
“Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is disappointed to see funding end for a program that has helped colleges provide focused funding to needy students as they work toward graduation, transfer and career goals,” Spalding said in a statement. Within Higher Ed. “The Minority Male Success Initiative closely aligns with the mission of community colleges by helping students overcome barriers and stay connected to the support they need.”
Stein said in the budget release that we are making “sound investments” in community colleges, though he also noted that the budget has “a real flaw.” The Republican-controlled General Assembly passed the budget on July 2; the governor’s signature sets the first comprehensive federal budget in more than two years.
“Moving forward, there is much work to be done,” Stein said in a statement. “We must continue to invest more in public safety, public education, and other public services to compete with other states and serve our people well. But as today’s budget proves, we can work together to make things happen.”
The Cabinet Office did not return a request for comment on how the funding cuts will affect future students and their ability to access post-secondary education.
House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Phil Berger, who oversees budget priorities, did not return requests for comment on the decision to defund the program.
