In fall 2018, Darrin Hartness, then freshly named president of Davidson-Davie Community College (DDCC), was talking with a local businessman. They were both struck by a challenge in Davie County: A large number of students graduating from high school didn’t have plans for what to do next.
So, they started dreaming up a plan to answer one big question:
“What would it look like for us to have a program to ensure that every student that graduated from high school in this community — whether it’s public high school or home school — would not have to worry about tuition and fees and would have a book stipend to go to college?” Hartness said.