This case study accompanying the brief From Goals to Graduation to Post-Completion Success explores how Durham Technical Community College in North Carolina has spent the past several years making career and educational planning an expected part of every student’s experience. The college serves more than 18,000 students across seven campuses in Durham and Orange counties and offers more than 90 associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates. Its challenge has been helping students across those different programs understand where they are headed and develop a plan for getting there.
Durham Tech did not create a standalone educational planning initiative. Instead, it connected and strengthened existing structures—professional and faculty advising, a required first-year college success course, transfer planning resources, dual enrollment, educational planning technology, and student support services—around a common framework. The result is a system in which nearly every student participates in a common planning process tailored to their individual career interests, educational goals, and circumstances.