UNC Charlotte's 49er Finish Program helps students who stopped out return to finish their degrees. The program has graduated 1,000 students, many of whom had been away for years. Staff work with each student on finances, academics, and barriers like family responsibilities to get them back on track.
I was in a fraternity. I was a cheerleader. I needed 13 credit hours, basically one semester. My wife and I had our first child in the spring of 2000, so I left school to take care of my wife and child while she finished school. When I started back, it was 19 years.
The 49er Finish Program is a graduation retention program that brings back former UNC Charlotte undergraduate students to complete their degrees. You have to have 90 credit hours or more earned at UNC Charlotte, a 2.0 GPA, you need to be in good standing both academically and financially, and have been stopped out of school for a year or more.
Financially, I struggled a little bit trying to pay for school out of pocket. pay for every other life expense, you know, that unfortunately kind of pushed me back a bit. The 49er Finish Program is helping me, you know, really steer me in the right direction to, you know, essentially finish off my degree in criminal justice.
It's a very special program. It's so personalized in the services that we offer. You know, I'm working so closely with the students as well as the academic departments to get them acclimated back into the university. to connect them with the resources needed. We actually just graduated our 1,000th graduate this past fall.
I have options, essentially, and I'm, you know, excited to see where it takes me.
You know, a year and a half after I started, I have 3 degrees. I have a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in Finance, in Management Talent Acquisition, and Supply Chain Operations Management. It's just been a blessing. Definitely a life changer.
