Catawba Valley Community College


Catawba Valley Community College is a public community college in Hickory, North Carolina, United States. The college, established April 3, 1958, is part of the North Carolina Community College System. The main campus covers and includes 16 buildings. The college also operates a Cosmetology Center in downtown Newton, the CVCC Alexander Center for Education in Taylorsville, and East Campus, where continuing education and business & industry services are provided. Specialty programs include the Manufacturing Solutions Center, where US manufacturers are provided assistance to increase sales, improve quality and improve efficiency. A Regional Simulated Hospital, ValleySim Hospital, opened in 2011. CVCC now has two furniture academies, one in Newton, North Carolina, and one in Taylorsville, North Carolina.

Challenger Early College High School

is a program on the campus of Catawba Valley Community College that is a collaborative effort between Catawba County Schools, North Carolina New Schools, CVCC, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Every year, Challenger Early College High School accepts 100 8th graders out of about 300 applicants from Catawba County Schools, Alexander County Schools, Hickory City Schools, and Newton-Conover Schools. In 2015, 390 students attended Challenger. They take a four- or five-year curriculum with high school courses and college courses. All students, upon graduation, receive a high school diploma.

2011 free speech controversy

In October 2011, Catawba Valley Community College suspended student Marc Bechtol for complaining on his Facebook page about a new policy that required students to sign up for a debit card to get their student ID and grant money. CVCC decided that the comments were "disturbing" and a "threat", and used that reasoning to suspend the student. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education took the side of the student, and he was allowed back in class pending a final outcome. Charges were dropped in December 2011.