NCSU and Duke Energy team to help new graduates

N.C. State University, whether through its outreach to farmers through an extension service, its continuing education offerings for older adults or its students’ participation in worthy causes in Raleigh, has always stayed true to a mission of public service. A program offering paid internships to recent college graduates (and not just NCSU grads) putting them with local businesses is a grand example.

Lots of new graduates have a tough time finding jobs, unless they’re in high-tech fields where employers are standing in line to hire them. For some, the issue might be a chosen course of study (liberal arts majors might need more time to find something) and for others it’s simply inexperience in the job market.

Enter N.C. State, with its “Backpacks to Briefcases” program aimed at recent grads in Wake and Johnston counties. The program, funded with a nearly $400,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation for the next three years, takes graduates who’ve gotten their degrees within the last six months to two years and pays them around $4,000 for 10 to 12 weeks at area businesses. The program also comes with training in writing those resumes, doing job interviews and going online to look for a job.

This is good, practical stuff. Give NCSU and Duke Energy credit for seeing a real need and speaking to it with money and effort and raising the horizons of young people.

This story was originally published September 7, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "NCSU and Duke Energy team to help new graduates."