- North Carolina is booming, but not for everyone.

We're seeing incredible job growth with companies making promises of opportunity and prosperity, but beneath this wave of success, a puzzling reality emerges.

North Carolina has more low-wage workers than national average, and out of 50 states, North Carolina ranked seventh for the most low-wage workers.

For some, there's a disconnect between these new jobs and the people living here.

Why?

Well, here's a startling fact.

One in four North Carolinians who start college never finish.

In an economy where a college degree can essentially double your income, that's a life-changing setback.

How can we help adult learners finish what they started and get their college degree and will it make a difference?

Can these programs truly help North Carolinians access the opportunities our booming economy promises?

Let's find out.

[poised music] [torch crackles] This is what opportunity sounds like, but for Josh Lyman, this moment almost never happened.

Just a few years ago, he couldn't imagine standing here.

- School's something I was never good at.

Never cared for or nothing like that.

I was suspended most of the time in high school and middle school, getting in trouble.

Didn't have good grades 'cause I didn't care.

- [David] Josh dropped out of high school at 17, got his GED and joined the Army.

After an injury, an honorable discharge in 2010, his life took a turn.

- I picked up a couple side jobs, working for some friends and stuff like that, but that's about all that worked for me for the time.

- Was that sustainable at all?

- No, not at all.

Barely made enough to cover food, [laughs] let alone rent or anything like that, so.

- [Announcer] While in the Army, Josh developed a substance use disorder after his injury.

Without education, finding stable employment became even harder.

- It was difficult.

I was homeless for, well, pretty much till just a couple years ago, since the time I got out.

- [David] Stories like Josh's help us understand why education and income are so tightly linked in North Carolina.

Recent data shows workers with a bachelor's degree earn a median wage of about $77,000, those with only a high school diploma, just $46,000, and those with less than a high school diploma like Josh, it's about $36,000.

This education gap is one factor contributing to lower wages in North Carolina.

About 28% of the state's workforce earns less than $17 per hour.

That percentage is higher than national average.

On top of that, nearly half of North Carolinians age 25 to 44 aren't earning what's considered a family-sustaining wage.

For them, housing, groceries, and gas, it all becomes a game of survival.

- People come to us and they are either exhausted in their current career or they are looking for whatever education program will get them that next pay bump or whatever it is to get their family stabilized.

- But things changed for Josh when he heard about Wilkes Community College.

- Well, my brother mentioned to me that they had a weld shop down there and they did the classes for it and everything.

It was something I'd never done, but I was really interested in it.

I always knew I was.

I just never had the means to actually start doing it.

- [David] Josh's timing couldn't have been better.

At the time, the community college was in the middle of changing how they support adult learners, especially those who had dropped out before.

They had discovered something surprising.

When students leave, it's rarely about academics.

Over half of dropouts aren't struggling with classes, they're struggling with life.

- Some of them only needed to come one semester and take one or two classes.

That's how close they were and we lost them.

- [David] So, the college created support services, offering everything from transportation to childcare assistance, and they took it even a step further, making tuition free through last-dollar scholarships.

After federal aid and grants, the college covers whatever remains, completely removing cost as a barrier.

- They're trying to make their lives better and we're the conduit for that.

Community college?

It's the lifeblood of the country for the workforce.

- [David] But even with the supports, many working adults face a seemingly impossible challenge: time.

Between full-time jobs and family responsibilities, sometimes traditional classes can remain out of reach.

- You have people who have great desire but no opportunity.

- That's where the public sector can play a role, like Tyson Foods, who brings education directly to the workplace.

Through their partnership with Wilkes Community College, employees can take classes before, during, or after their shifts.

How much of a game changer is that to offer those opportunities there at the workplace rather than them having to come to the community college here?

- Total game changer.

Paradigm shift as far as, you know, the production environment moves fast, any work environment really moves fast, and being agile is really the new term for any workplace, and that would be an agile function to be able to meet a need of your workforce and say, "Hey, we have it right here."

That is just mind blowing.

- [David] While programs like these may be making a difference locally, North Carolina faces a bigger challenge.

Remember the thousands of former students across the state who are just a few credits short of their degree?

- We don't know where they go, and our biggest competitor to education here is nowhere.

- [David] So, how can a statewide solution be scaled to meet this need?

Enter NC Reconnect.

It's a partnership between the Belk Endowment, NC State University, and the North Carolina Community College System.

The initiative partners with community colleges across the state, including Wilkes Community College.

It provides re-enrollment coaching that helps adults return to school and complete their degrees.

- No one scholarship is going to improve outcomes.

No one funder or program is going to make this community stronger.

It takes all of us coming to the table recognizing what we do and don't have and striving to impact that together.

- [David] North Carolina has set an ambitious goal: 2 million adults with valued credentials or degrees by 2030.

But behind these numbers are stories of transformation.

Josh Lyman went from homeless to graduating with a welding degree.

Now, he's finishing his business degree with dreams of starting his own company.

- For a while there, I wasn't sure going through recovery if it was gonna be possible for me to stay sober, for me to stay out of trouble or just fall back into the old life, but going to the school has just made everything easy.

- [David] As our state continues to attract new businesses and opportunities, the question isn't just about creating jobs.

It's about how can we create pathways for North Carolinians to access them.

For "ncIMPACT," I'm David Hurst.