HENDERSONVILLE - With fall enrollment underway and classes starting August 15, Blue Ridge Community College students have more program options, providing learners of all ages a boost toward the workforce. Blue Ridge’s newest programs include practical nursing, civil engineering technology, environmental engineering technology, artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, elementary education residency, and medical office administration. Blue Ridge will also offer respiratory therapy for the first time this fall in partnership with Southwestern Community College. Future students can visit BlueRidge.edu/admissions to begin the enrollment process. Blue Ridge carefully chooses new programs in high-wage high-demand sectors that support the needs of the local and regional economy. Before their approval by the North Carolina State Board of Community Colleges and addition to the College’s curriculum, each proposed new program undergoes a rigorous feasibility study to ensure a robust demand for program graduates and a promising long-term career outlook. For example, respiratory therapy employment is projected to grow 13% in the decade through 2032 by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. In response, Blue Ridge’s Transylvania County Campus will offer a respiratory therapy program for the first time this fall in collaboration with Southwestern Community College. Also under the healthcare umbrella, practical nursing is forecast to experience a worker shortage of 50% by the year 2033 by The Program on Health Workforce Research and Policy at the Cecil G. Sheps Center. The new one-year practical nursing program prepares students to take the next step into Blue Ridge’s popular two-year associate degree nursing program, which prepares students for highly-employable careers as registered nurses. Similarly, North Carolina is the fourth largest employer of civil engineering technicians nationally according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Graduates of Blue Ridge’s new civil engineering technology program will therefore be highly employable, qualified for technician-level jobs within both public and private engineering, construction and surveying agencies. With the goal of assisting K-12 education partners in solving the current teacher shortage crisis, Blue Ridge recently added the new elementary education residency program. April Wright, teacher preparation and licensure faculty member, explained that the new program is enrolling teaching residents that hold a bachelor's degree in a non-education field and who are currently employed with a local school system. In addition to Blue Ridge’s newest programs announced this past year, students can choose from over 200 degree, diploma and certificate programs in 30 areas of study. Enrollment information is available at BlueRidge.edu/Admissions, and assistance is available by emailing [email protected] or by calling the College’s One Stop Center at 828-694-1800 in Henderson County or 828-694-1900 in Transylvania County. | 
