The passing rate of nurses graduating from a North Carolina community college surpassed both the state and national average, according to a summary report recently presented to the State Board of Community Colleges.

"We are pleased with the great work of our graduates and our colleges, but these high passing rates also mean a lot for North Carolina. Nine out of every 10 North Carolina community college nursing graduates work right here in our state," says Dr. Scott Ralls, North Carolina Community College System President. "Typically, these students choose a career close to home which also helps address the growing need for trained health professionals in some rural areas."

North Carolina community colleges prepare graduates to qualify for application to sit for both licensure exams for nurses -- the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN) and the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN).

All NC Community Colleges* practical nursing (PN) programs reported individual passing rates at 80 percent or above. Of the 32 North Carolina community college PN programs reporting scores, 12 posted a perfect passing rate of 100 percent for 2008, resulting in an overall passing rate of 94 percent for the North Carolina Community College System. That*s one percent higher than the state average and seven percent higher than the national average.

Of the 48 North Carolina community college registered nursing (RN) programs reporting scores for the RN examination, eleven reported a passing rate of 100 percent for 2008 compared to two programs in 2007. Over all, the average passing rate was 89.7 percent, .7 percent higher than the state average and 2.7 percent higher than the national average.

In 2008, four RN programs reported passing rates below 80 percent, a self-imposed threshold of attainment for NC Community Colleges. The community colleges are Brunswick (60 percent), James Sprunt (64 percent), Pitt (77 percent) and Surry (73 percent). Each school is taking steps to improve their scores and maintain the desired system passing rate.