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1. Verify Your Eligibility

To be eligible to the C3 program you must meet all of the following requirements.

Note: C3 Military Connect, applicants with international coursework and early college students also need to meet the additional requirements specific to their category. See the “Additional Eligibility Requirements” section below.

All Applicants Eligibility Requirements

  • You must have completed high school or less than 30 credit hours of college work at a community college.
  • You should be from a low-to-moderate income household. While C3 seeks students who fall at or below the $110,000 household income range, we are dedicated to considering you and your unique story. Feel free to reach out to us to discuss extenuating circumstances regarding your application and eligibility.
  • You must be classified as a resident for tuition purposes through the North Carolina Residency Determination Service (RDS). We suggest you apply for residency before you apply for C3 and include your RDS number on your application. See step 3.
  • You must also submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) alongside its verification requirements, maintain a 3.0 GPA or better cumulative GPA for community college coursework or attempted NC State coursework, and remain in Good Standing with both NC State University and your community college. To learn more about what we expect from you, please check out our Program Acceptance Agreement.
  • Your major must be offered at NC State. The C3 program applies to most majors that NC State offers. However, while we can guarantee admission into NC State, we cannot guarantee admission into a particular program.
    • If you’re considering a studio-based major within the College of Design, you are not eligible for C3. Students may apply for C3 if they are interested in the Design Studies major.
    • Additionally, those interested in majoring in Biomedical Engineering at NC State will be required to submit additional application information and go through an additional review process prior to their consideration for that program.

Additional Eligibility Requirements

Military Connect provides additional advising and support for military-affiliated students from partner community colleges located near NC military bases and posts. With close ties to NC’s military base communities, these partner schools work closely with C3 to support students through the unique challenges that come with military transfers and deployments.

You are eligible to C3 Military Connect if you fall into one of the following categories:

  • Military veterans
  • Active duty service members within 12 months of separation
  • Dependents of active duty service members (regardless of separation date)
  • Dependents of veterans (within 3 years of veteran’s discharge date)
  • Attending or planning to attend one of our C3 Military Connect partner community colleges

If you have high school or college coursework from outside the United States, you will be required to submit a few additional materials.

  • If you have a high school coursework outside the U.S., you must submit an official copy of your high school transcript. Records not issued in English must be accompanied by the English translation that is certified by an appropriate school official, official translator, or U.S. embassy or consulate official.
  • Applicants who have completed any university coursework outside of the U.S. will need to submit a course-by-course evaluation, along with an official transcript, completed by one of the following NACES-accredited foreign credential evaluation services:
    • World Education Services
    • Educational Credential Evaluations, Inc.
    • Educational Perspectives
    • International Education Evaluations, Inc.

Note: To be considered official, documents must be sent directly to NC State from the issuing institution or they must be certified as true copies by an official of the educational institution, an embassy official, or an appropriate government official.

Early college students should apply between the second semester of their junior/3rd year of high school and the 2nd semester of their senior/4th year of high school. Early college students must complete the 5th year of high school to participate in C3.

In addition to the standard C3 requirements, you will be required to submit a letter of recommendation from an early college high school or community college administrator (principal, counselor, dean, or teacher).

If you’re admitted as an early college student through C3, you would be considered a transfer applicant, not a first year student. So you would not be eligible or considered for freshman/first-year scholarships.