Gov. Josh Stein said the budget makes “meaningful investments” in community colleges, though he also noted it has “real flaws.”
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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 originally 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. The funds went to 21 community colleges across the state, and in FY 2024–25, the initiative helped over 27,000 students, according to the program’s report.
The initiative, which started as a pilot program at six community colleges in 2003, was intended to help historically underserved male students persist and graduate from community colleges by providing them with resources including structured mentoring and academic coaching. In 2007, the North Carolina General Assembly began allocating state funding for the program in four-year cycles.
