Quality of Life
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Education

Resident Educational Attainment:

  • 44.9% of residents 18- 24 years have a degree beyond high school.
  • 43.3% of residents over 25 have some college with 20.9% holding an Associate or Bachelor's degree.
  • 4.7% of residents over 25 have a graduate degree.

There are 4 Primary Schools, 12 Elementary Schools, 5 Middle Schools and 4 High Schools in the Harnett County Public School System.

Harnett County has two institutions of higher learning located within the county: Central Carolina Community College and Campbell University. Eleven more institutions are within an hour's drive. It is a short drive to Fayetteville State University and Methodist University located in Fayetteville as well as Campuses of the UNC System located in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. These include NC State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, North Carolina Central University, Peace College, Shaw University, Meredith College, St. Augustine's College, Barton College, Mount Olive College and others.

Central Carolina Community College

CCCC is the eighth largest community college in North Carolina. CCCC is committed to providing businesses and industries with quality, customized, affordable training and education for their employees. In support of businesses and industry, the College offers a variety of in-plant training services. One program of particular interest is the New and Expanding Industry Training Program sponsored by the State of North Carolina. In excess of 6,500 students attend the curriculum program and more than 13,400 take continuing education courses. CCCC is home to the only laser and fiber optics laboratory in the southeast and is the largest program between Florida and Boston.

Industry Training Services at Central Carolina Community College
Customized industry training by Central Carolina Community College is designed in conjunction with industry representatives to provide the right training to produce quality employees or prospective employees that meet the industries requirements. The College provides retraining services to existing industries to aid employees in learning new equipment or machinery. Services are generally concerned with educational programs required to upgrade skills in businesses and industries throughout the county.

The College also offers services to Small Business in a variety of forms designed to assist small business owners. Services include specialized seminars, a resource center, business counselor, and a statewide network. A small business counselor is available to provide advice on starting a new business or operating an existing business.

Campbell University

Campbell University was founded as Buies Creek Academy on January 5, 1887, by James Archibald Campbell, a North Carolina preacher who believed that no student should be denied admission because of lack of funds. In 1926, the school attained junior college status and changed its name from Buies Creek Academy to Campbell Junior College. In 1961, Campbell became a senior college. The name was changed to Campbell University on June 6, 1979.

Graduate Programs were begun in 1977, with the Master of Education degree. The Master of Science in Government was established in 1982.

The Campbell University School of Law was founded in 1976, and the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business was begun in 1983. The Schools of Pharmacy and Education were established in 1985. The Divinity School was established in 1996. In the Fall of 2010 the college will open the Physician's Assistant School.

Its current total enrollment is more than 9,400 students. The main campus total enrollment is over 3,900 students, which includes over 2,500 undergraduate students and over 1,400 graduate students. In an average year, the student body comes from about ninety North Carolina counties, all fifty states, and over forty countries. Sixty-six percent of the students come from North Carolina.

Campbell has a faculty-student ratio of 1:19. This guarantees small classes and personal attention for each student. At Campbell, professors teach all classes. Graduate Assistants will not be found instructing students. This contributes to the quality education for which Campbell has been well-known.? http://www.campbell.edu/about/history-quick-facts

In the Fall of 2013 Campbell University will open the first Medical School in the State in over 35 years. The School of Osteopathic Medicine is under construction in Buies Creek on US Highway 401. The school is accepting applications now. In 2013 the College will add the Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

Methodist University

Methodist College was chartered November 1, 1956 as a senior, coeducational liberal arts college. It was established as a joint venture by the citizens of Fayetteville/Cumberland County and the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church. The college today serves 2,100 students - 1,500 in the day program and 600 in MC at Night, the College's evening and weekend program. The student/faculty ration is 17:1. Today the College offers bachelor's degrees in 65 fields of study including communications, justice studies, business administration, education and social work. New majors and concentrations recently added include management information systems, resort management, and computer information technology. Students may earn a minor in leadership studies through the Lura S. Tally Center for Leadership Development. In the Fall 2001 semester, the College instituted its first master's degree in the physician assistant program and in the Fall of 2005, the College will begin its MBA at Pinehurst Program. On November 1, 2006, Dr. Hendricks announced that by a unanimous vote of the trustees, the College would change its name to Methodist University.

Associate's and bachelor's degrees are offered in more than 50 majors, master's degrees are offered in two fields:

Associate's and Bachelor's: Accounting, Professional Accounting, Applied Exercise Science, Art, Arts Management, Athletic Training, Biology, Business Administration, Cardiac Rehabilitation, Chemistry, Communications/Mass Media, Computer Information Technology, Computer Science, Elementary Education, English, Finance/Economics, French, Global Studies, History, Leadership Studies, Marketing, Mathematics, Middle Grades Education, Military Science, Music, Music Performance, Music Education, Occupational Environmental Management, Organizational Communication & Leadership, Physical Education, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, ROTC Program, Science, Social Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Spanish, Special Education, Strength and Conditioning, Theatre, Writing.

Master's: Business Administration and Justice Administration, Medical Science

Academic minors are also offered for many of the major fields, but there are also a handful of programs exclusively available as minors. Some of them are: Accounting, Art, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Coaching, Computer Art, Multimedia & Programming, English, Financial Economics, French, German, Gerontology, History, Human Performance and Counseling/Clinical Psychology, Justice Studies, Leadership Studies, Marketing, Paralegal Studies, Philosophy, Real Estate and others. Information: (910) 630-7000 or www.methodist.edu

Fayetteville State University

Fayetteville State University is a constituent institution of The University of North Carolina and the second-oldest public institution of higher education in the state. Founded in 1867 as the Howard School for the education of African Americans, today FSU serves a growing student body of over 6,000 and ranks among the nation's most diverse campus communities.

The university boasts a student-to-faculty ratio of 21-to-1 and the FSU faculty puts teaching first. Students are guaranteed personal attention from their professors and benefit from innovative programs like the national award-winning Freshman Year Initiative, which helps freshmen make the transition from high school to university life. One measure of Fayetteville State's student-centered focus is the university's high scores on the National Survey of Student Engagement.

FSU consistently ranks among the nation's top producers of African American baccalaureate and master's graduates. The university ranks particularly high in North Carolina and the country in producing African American and other minority graduates in disciplines like Mathematics, Psychology, Computer Science, Education, Social Sciences, and History. The university offers bachelor's degrees in 43 different areas, 22 Master's and one Doctoral degree program (in Educational Leadership). New bachelor's programs include undergraduate degrees in biotechnology, communications, forensic science, management information systems (MIS) and generic nursing. New graduate programs include the Master of Arts in teaching. The major areas of study are arts and sciences, business, economics, sociology, criminal justice, and education. The six most popular undergraduate majors are business administration (119), criminal justice (98), psychology (80), sociology (74), and elementary teacher education (40). Of 22 graduate programs, the top four are education (34), school administration (26), social work (19) and business administration (17).