Postsecondary Planning and Preparation

UNC Asheville’s Office for Postsecondary Planning and Preparation (PPP) works with schools, communities, and other partners to facilitate the attainment of a college degree for more people throughout our region. We advance the University’s mission by providing North Carolina’s future college students, their families and their schools with resources and preparation that demystify college and the college-going process. We strive to position UNC Asheville as a resource, advocate and leader for college access and success in our region.

Who We Are

Postsecondary Planning and Preparation offers a wide-range of outreach activities and services available to schools, communities, and other partners. Our research, scholarship, and expertise, along with our commitment to heightening the importance of social and civic responsibility among our faculty, staff, and students, helps to fuel engaged inquiry in an evolving and increasingly complex global society.

We envision a southern Appalachia in which students are better prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, communities are more regenerative and resilient, and public education serves both ends.

We promote and expand educational opportunities and access across our region, particularly in those communities that have been traditionally underserved. We are committed to offering partner-specific services, programs and initiatives that are sensitive and relevant to the needs of those communities.

What We Do

Public Engagement

We catalog and promote information about the on and off-campus events, projects, workshops, camps and other programs UNC Asheville conducts in collaboration with school districts. Those partnerships and events are visible via our Community Calendar.

Professional Development

We provide professional development for teachers, staff and administrators from across our region. Our professional development is customized to the goals and needs of the participants and leverages the resources and expertise at UNC Asheville.

Postsecondary Planning and Preparation

As the only public liberal arts university in WNC, UNC Asheville is uniquely positioned to contribute to regional youth’s understanding of and preparation for their options after high school. We work with our secondary school partners to design and conduct innovative on-campus and in-district programming that engages students in the deep and intersectional learning that is the hallmark of a liberal arts education. Our outreach also supports our partnering schools by expanding their capacity to deliver rich and impactful pre-college curricula.