GASTON COLLEGE M-2

201 Hwy. 321 South
Dallas, NC 28034-1499
Tel: (704)922-6200; Admissions: (704)922-6219; Web Site: http://www.gaston.cc.nc.us/

Description: State and locally supported, 2-year, coed. Part of North Carolina Community College System. Awards certificates, diplomas, transfer associate, and terminal associate degrees. Founded 1963. Setting: 166-acre small town campus with easy access to Charlotte. Endowment: $716,546. Total enrollment: 5,025. Student-undergrad faculty ratio is 18:1. 5% from top 10% of their high school class, 39% from top quarter, 51% from top half. Full-time: 1,640 students, 66% women, 34% men. Part-time: 3,385 students, 70% women, 30% men. Students come from 10 states and territories, 0.4% Native American, 2% Hispanic, 17% black, 1% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 52% 25 or older. Retention: 80% of 2003 full-time freshmen returned. Core. Calendar: semesters. Academic remediation for entering students, ESL program, services for LD students, advanced placement, summer session for credit, part-time degree program, adult/continuing education programs, co-op programs. Off campus study at 10 members of the Charlotte Area Educational Consortium.

Entrance Requirements: Open admission except for nursing, allied health programs. Required for some: high school transcript. Placement: ACT COMPASS required; ACT required for some. Entrance: noncompetitive. Application deadline: Rolling. Notification: continuous.

Costs Per Year: Application fee: $0. State resident tuition: $1136 full-time, $35.50 per credit hour part-time. Nonresident tuition: $6304 full-time, $197 per credit hour part-time. Mandatory fees: $26 full-time, $13 per term part-time. Full-time tuition and fees vary according to course load. Part-time tuition and fees vary according to course load.

Collegiate Environment: Orientation program. Student-run radio station. Social organizations: 15 open to all. Most popular organization: Student Government Association. Major annual events: Fall Week, Spring Week. Campus security: 24-hour patrols. College housing not available. Gaston College Library with 49,434 books, 45,163 microform titles, 561 serials, 3,343 audiovisual materials, and an OPAC. Operations spending 2002-03: $506,470.

Community Environment: The 140 textile plants of Gaston County, 59 of which are in Gastonia, manufacture more than 80 percent of the fine combed cotton yarn made in the United States. Gastonia is an important industrial city of the South. Railroads serve the area with the Charlotte Airport 15 miles away. Community facilities include numerous churches, hospitals, a public library, and a number of civic and service organizations. Rankin Lake is the city's natural reservoir. Adjoining it is a public park that provides a museum and planetarium as well as facilities for golfing, swimming, boating, fishing, and tennis. The Atlantic Coast is within a five-hour drive.