To the Editor: 

I read your article regarding Guaranteed College Scholarships with an enthusiastic interest. I fully support financial assistance to students; however, it is my belief that any qualified student can attend one of our community colleges if not a four-year university. Financial need rarely prevents a determined student from an education.

Starting in the fall, North Carolina students whose families make less than $80,000 a year will receive a guaranteed scholarship toward attending any of the state’s public colleges and universities. 

Diversity within the Western Carolina University workforce has been inching up, with the latest report showing that the last year’s worth of staffing changes held steady the proportion of racial and ethnic minorities on the university’s payroll while strengthening the existing majority of female WCU employees and resulting in a sharp increase in the percentage of employees with a disability. 

Students in Western Carolina University’s interior design program soon will have access to new experiential learning opportunities thanks to a $75,000 gift from a woman whose 40-year career in the profession got its start at WCU. 

For the third year running, freshman enrollment has increased at Western Carolina University, a metric that university leaders hope will signal an end to multiple years of falling enrollment in the wake of the Coronavirus Pandemic.