RALEIGH, N.C. (January 11, 2024) — Wake Tech Cybersecurity and Advertising and Graphic Design associate degree graduates can now pursue a bachelor’s degree at Montreat College thanks to a new academic partnership.
Wake Tech and Montreat College officials celebrated the new partnership on Thursday, January 11, during a signing ceremony at Wake Tech’s RTP Campus in Morrisville.
The 2+2 university transfer agreements are Wake Tech’s first with the private, Christian liberal arts college located in western North Carolina. It’s also the first to allow advertising and graphic design graduates an opportunity to earn an advanced degree in their career field.
With the new articulation agreements:
- Wake Tech students who earn an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Cybersecurity can transfer into Montreat’s Cybersecurity bachelor’s degree program with junior status. Wake Tech and Montreat College are national leaders in cybersecurity education, and both are designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the National Security Agency (NSA). The two institutions also work together with other North Carolina private and public colleges and universities to develop cybersecurity talent as educational members of the Carolina Cyber Network (CCN). Montreat’s bachelor degree program’s emphasis on combining ethics, leadership, and liberal arts skills with technical proficiency has garnered recognition at the highest levels of the U.S. government.
- Wake Tech students who earn an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) in Advertising and Graphic Design can transfer into Montreat’s Visual Communication and Experience Design bachelor’s degree program with junior status. The advanced degree at Montreat educates individuals in graphic design, web UI/UX, and brand creation and management to help them engage in the experience design process to create integrated design solutions.
“We are excited to add Montreat College as one of our university transfer partners,” said Wake Tech President Dr. Scott Ralls. “Cybersecurity is one of our largest career training programs at Wake Tech, and these new articulation agreements will open up opportunities for our graduates to ladder up to advanced degrees in high-demand IT fields of cybersecurity and design.”
“I’m pleased to offer a seamless pathway for Wake Tech students to complete their bachelor’s degrees at Montreat College,“ said Montreat College President Paul J. Maurer. “Montreat College’s Cybersecurity and Visual Communication and Experience Design degrees are academically rigorous, rooted in the liberal arts, and focused on preparing students to succeed in two in-demand fields. We look forward to welcoming more Wake Tech students into these programs.”
Under the transfer agreements, advertising and graphic design students must maintain an overall minimum 2.5 GPA at Montreat with a 3.0 GPA in major courses. Cybersecurity students must maintain an overall 2.0 GPA at Montreat.
Currently, more than 1,000 students are enrolled in Wake Tech’s Cybersecurity degree program, which is Wake Tech’s second-largest AAS degree program, and more than 600 students are enrolled in the Advertising and Graphic Design degree program.
Wake Tech’s new partnership with Montreat is an example of the college’s “ladder economics” strategies that offer workforce transfer partnerships through bachelor degree pathways with university partners. All associate degree programs at Wake Tech, including AAS degrees like Advertising and Graphic Design, have transfer opportunities to a four-year college or university.
Montreat College is a private, Christian, liberal arts college founded in 1916 that offers associate, bachelor’s, and master’s degree programs for residential and online students. Montreat College’s main campus for four-year residential students is located in Montreat, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Asheville.
Wake Tech is North Carolina’s largest community college, serving more than 64,000 adults annually. The college is accredited and offers more than 250 associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates that prepare students for university transfer or immediate employment. More than half of those programs can be completed totally online.
