The presidents and provosts of both colleges met at NCCC on Thursday to sign off on the creation of the “Gateway 2 Plattsburgh” program, which kicks off in the coming fall semester.

They said it allows people to get a four-year degree while staying local, saves students on transfer fees and will potentially provide the region with more bachelor’s degree holders in needed fields.

NCCC President Joe Keegan described taking fresh NCCC grads and floating them down the Saranac River to its terminus in Lake Champlain, where it runs right by the Plattsburgh campus.

The two campuses are an hour apart by car, and the road connecting them loosely follows the Saranac River.

North Country Community College President Joe Keegan, left, and SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi sign documents Thursday creating a new dual enrollment program between the two colleges. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Keegan said the two institutions have had an informal partnership for many years. SUNY Plattsburgh President Alexander Enyedi said this program, pitched last fall by his college, formalizes and streamlines it while offering discounts to students.

“If we do it well, it will help with our enrollment,” Keegan said.

Keegan said SUNY Chancellor John King has a goal of getting more community college graduates to become baccalaureates. Community colleges primarily offer two-year associate’s degrees and are more affordable than their four-year counterparts.

At NCCC, New York state students pay $2,640 per semester. At SUNY Plattsburgh, New York state students pay $4,631 per semester — $12,916 if they live on campus.

“National studies have shown 80% of first-year community college students plan to pursue a bachelor’s degree, but only 16% complete one,” NCCC Communications Director Chris Knight said in a statement.

Keegan said the higher a degree someone holds, on average, the more money they make. Both presidents said they hope to provide economic mobility into the middle class.

The effort to create this pathway was funded by $75,000 in the SUNY Transformation Fund.

“Seamless” was the word of the day.

Enyedi said the program simplifies the admission process — students will be formally admitted to NCCC and provisionally admitted to Plattsburgh, creating a student record at both colleges, so when students confirm their plans to pursue a four-year degree, Plattsburgh will have their record and have transfer counselors ready to start the process.

Students will have to maintain a minimum grade point average.

The agreement also waives the admission deposit, admission fee and transfer fee for students.

NCCC Vice President of Academic Affairs Sarah Maroun said staff at both colleges have ensured that the course credits from NCCC will transfer into programs at Plattsburgh.

“That assures students that have these hard-earned credits that they accumulate here at North Country will seamlessly transfer to SUNY Plattsburgh,” Enyedi said.

Enyedi said the North Country needs people in the education, health care and social work fields. Both colleges have programs for these careers, and the Gateway 2 Plattsburgh program includes degrees in counseling, psychology, education and nursing.

“In higher education, collaboration is going to be the key for just about everything going forward,” SUNY Plattsburgh Provost Brent Carbajal said.

He said people are going to see a lot more collaborations like this post-pandemic. Operating independently is not going to work anymore, he said.

Plattsburgh recently started a similar collaboration with SUNY Adirondack and NCCC has long had a four-year degree track with Paul Smith’s College.

Between the forestry, hospitality and environmental degrees at PSC and the nursing, social work and teaching degrees at Plattsburgh, Keegan said NCCC will have a large base to start a variety of degrees.

“‘Bernie’ takes flight,” Keegan said, referring to NCCC’s St. Bernard mascot and Plattsburgh’s cardinal mascot “Burghy.”

More details and an application page for the program can be found at nccc.edu/gateway.

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CORRECTION: An article titled “‘Gateway 2 Plattsburgh'” on page A1 Saturday misspelled SUNY Plattsburgh president Alexander Enyedi’s last name. The Enterprise regrets the error.