Alston says he hopes to see the undergraduate agricultural education cohort at A&T grow from around seven students to 20 annually with the influx of new students from the online program. He says degree candidates will be able to fulfill their student-teaching requirements at high schools close to where they live. The only other public university in North Carolina that grants degrees in agricultural education is North Carolina State University, which does not have a program similar to the 2 + 2 initiative, according to Alston.

Dr. Bruce Williams, president of the North Carolina Association of Horticulture Instructors, believes there will be considerable demand by students to take advantage of the 2 + 2 program. As director of the turf grass management and horticulture program at Brunswick Community College in Supply, N.C., Williams says two Brunswick county residents have already signed up for the 2 + 2 program.

"We're a small county of 70,000 people. There are 100 counties in North Carolina, and if we're any indication of how much potential enrollment is out there, I think this program will be popular," Williams says.

Williams explains that there's a strong demand in the economy for people with horticultural skills and expertise. There's a huge shift in agriculture employment in the United States, where crop cultivation and harvesting is in decline as a major employer, but jobs in the horticultural sector are growing. Horticulture includes the fields of landscaping, gardening and turf grass management. "Our students experience a 100 percent job placement rate when they graduate," Williams says.

Williams praises North Carolina A&T officials for developing the 2 + 2 initiative. "It's a sorely needed program," he says.