Effectiveness and Innovation

What is Finish First NC?


North Carolina community colleges now have free access to a high-impact, high-volume, low-resource, low-cost solution for student success and completion.

Finish First NC (FFNC) is a powerful data tool that highlights students who have fulfilled requirements to complete credentials but have not claimed them, and also indicates students within striking distance of completing a credential, so colleges can easily encourage them to finish it.

Finish First NC identifies these students in a matter of minutes, giving colleges the ability to award earned credentials immediately and guide students with personalized information about the closest path to completion.

Thanks to funding from the Lumina Foundation and the John M. Belk Endowment, Wake Technical Community College and the NC Community College System Office are offering FFNC at no charge to NCCCS colleges.

Colleges throughout North Carolina are using Finish First NC to advance their student completion, advising and success efforts. Here are some ways that Finish First NC benefits colleges, students and our communities:

  1. Empowers advisors and students with personalized information about a clear pathway to completing a certificate, diploma or degree.
  2. Drastically reduces the time it takes to identify students at or close to completion.
  3. Increases completions/graduation rates of institutions using Finish First NC.
  4. Facilitates proactive advising.
  5. Promotes data-informed course scheduling.
  6. Personalizes re-enrollment outreach.
  7. Saves student's education costs.
  8. Provides a tangible labor market benefit to students and employers.