Goal 1: Lifelong Student Success
Since the launch of Wolfpack 2030: Powering the Extraordinary, we’ve emphasized empowering students for a lifetime of success and impact. We’ve made significant progress toward this goal over the past three years, enacting measures that help undergraduate and graduate students excel in the classroom, throughout campus and in the greater community even after graduation. Below we share some examples of our progress.
High Hopes, High Impact
NC State’s unique high-impact experiences (HIEs) — valuable experiential learning opportunities — improve student achievement on learning outcomes and set up our students for academic success. Through these experiences, students acquire the knowledge and skills to excel in the classroom and professionally.
High-impact experiences are front and center with the launch of Packways: Learning by Doing, the university’s 2024-2029 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) focused on enhancing student learning and student success. Through Packways, NC State students will have greater access to high-impact experiences, understand the value of HIEs, and be guided in the practice of reflection to better integrate experiences across contexts for lifelong learning.
We’ve also been working to provide additional opportunities for student engagement in high-impact experiences. Our students learn valuable entrepreneurship and teamwork skills through new initiatives, like the Blue Economy Innovation Program, which is innovating sustainable solutions for coastal communities and marine ecosystems, and through the Poole College of Management’s e-Clinic, which offers students practical experience working with startups. Students also gain in-demand data and analytics skills through initiatives like the Data Science and AI Academy’s (DSA) DataFest™ and the academy’s wide range of data science courses.
1,666 students participated in study abroad
in FY23-24
1,104 students participated in co-ops
in FY23-24
Extraordinary Student Support
We are committed to graduating students who are equipped for high levels of success and impact wherever they go. In all our strategic plan efforts, we focus on the holistic development and enrichment of students — academically, socially, mentally and physically.
We’ve created new pathways for students to excel through funding opportunities for their studies, working to identify philanthropic support to grow need-based aid, merit-based financial resources, and graduate fellowships.This includes the Extraordinary Opportunities Scholarship Initiative, which closes the gap between the cost of higher education and what a student can afford, and the Goodnight Doctoral Fellowship, which makes the post-secondary degree path more accessible for academia’s next generation. We’ve expanded support for transfer students, adding more community college partners within our C3 (Community College Collaboration) program, and increasing our number of Goodnight Transfer Scholarships.
Another way we foster accessibility to a high-quality education and student success is through the OnePack Empowered program, an initiative that supports and empowers neurodivergent students. The university has developed the Pack Essentials program, a one-stop solution to link students in need with community resources, and a new site for the Feed the Pack Food Pantry, which provides a space dedicated to building and supporting our NC State community.
69.1% four-year undergraduate graduation rate
reported in fall 2024
4,368 scholarship and fellowship funds
as of FY 23-24
Quality Credentials
We back up our commitment to experiential education and developing outstanding students by ensuring that we offer the most relevant programs and in-demand credentials. The university launched the Office of Instructional Programs under the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, to provide central support for academic planning and the coordination of academic and non-credit instructional programs. Under guiding principles developed by this office, NC State will expand the range of quality non-degree credentials that we offer.
