Report: Merging NC community colleges would save

RALEIGH, NC (By EMERY P. DALESIO, Associated Press) - North Carolina's community colleges could save about $5 million a year by folding administration and back-office work at the smallest campuses into larger neighbors, a legislative efficiency report released Tuesday said.

But campus leaders are balking at the proposal, saying $5 million a year in savings is small compared to the disruptions the mergers would cause.

"I am totally opposed to the consolidation and merger idea," said Mary Kirk, president of Montgomery Community College and of the North Carolina Association of Community College Presidents. "If the recommendation to consolidate colleges is implemented, it would devastate our rural communities. It is all they have. Our rural citizens would no longer have access to the same level of affordable education and training."