This month, Central Piedmont Community College marked 60 years since it first opened its doors to students and began its work of service to the community.
Today, with six campuses and two centers, Central Piedmont offers nearly 300 degree, diploma and certificate programs plus an array of non-credit offerings. Central Piedmont enrolls approximately 43,600 students annually in for-credit programs as well as continuing education and basic skills courses, making it one the largest colleges in the Carolinas. Through the years, more than 100,000 individuals have earned credentials at Central Piedmont.
Central Piedmont became a multi-campus community college in the early 1990s, with the conversion of the North Area Learning Center in Huntersville to the North Campus, which then became the Merancas Campus in 2011. Four other campuses subsequently opened—Levine in 1998, Harper in 1999, Harris in 2001, and Cato in 2002.
In 2012, Central Piedmont acquired WTVI, the Charlotte Region’s PBS TV station, in Charlotte. In 2013, the college renovated and repurposed its City View Center to house a new cosmetology degree program.
In 2013, Mecklenburg County voters showed its support for Central Piedmont in dramatic fashion, approving $210 million in bonds for land purchases, new construction and renovations. The college used the $210 million, plus $70 million in other county funding, to add almost one-million square feet of new laboratory, classroom and office space across five of its six campuses. The final project funded by the 2013 bonds proved to be the largest in the college’s history. The 184,0000-square-foot Parr Center opened on the Central Campus in 2022, providing a new 21st century library, student union with welcome center, a 430-seat theater, an art gallery, and dozens of spaces for students to meet, study, and relax.
Also in 2022, Central Piedmont completed its five-year “Powering a Stronger Future” fundraising campaign. The effort proved to be a tremendous success, raising more than $66.3 million. More than 3,270 donors made gifts and pledges to the campaign, with more than half of the benefactors giving to the college for the first time. Power a Stronger Future opened with a $40-million goal, making it the most ambitious campaign in Central Piedmont’s history. When the campaign closed, it had surpassed its goal by more than $26 million, setting a new, all-time fundraising record for the college.
“We are proud as the college celebrates its 60th anniversary,” Kandi Deitemeyer, Central Piedmont president since 2017, said. “Over the decades, Central Piedmont has grown into a large, comprehensive college and Mecklenburg County’s primary workforce development partner. Even though Central Piedmont is a mature college and one of the bedrock institutions in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community, its best days lie before us. We will continually seek to enhance our service to students, helping them find a path to success and a better future for each of them and their families.”
