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GREENSBORO — Once upon a time, you couldn't buy liquor by the drink or get a four-year college degree in Asheboro.

That's so 2007.

Quietly, with none of the fanfare that accompanied July's hot-button alcohol referendum, four colleges this fall have altered Asheboro's higher education landscape.

Working with Randolph Community College, three four-year schools — Greensboro College, Salem College and Pfeiffer University — have opened the University Center of Randolph County.

Using existing facilities at RCC, professors from Greensboro, Salem and Pfeiffer will teach night courses leading to bachelor's degrees.

Students won't have to leave Randolph County to earn those bachelor's degrees.

"The exciting part of this is it's a win-win-win proposition," RCC president Robert Shackleford said. "It's a win for the universities because they're getting students who couldn't drive out of county. It's a win for us because students will come here to get their associates degrees before finishing with (the other colleges). More than anything, it's a win for the people of Randolph County ... who have educational opportunities that never existed before."

Here's how it works:

A student enrolls at RCC, earns an associate's degree then enters the University Center. There, the student pursues a bachelor's degree in criminal justice (from Greensboro), business administration (from Salem) or elementary education (from Pfeiffer).

"This is not online or correspondence course work," Shackleford said. "The instructors from the colleges come here and teach ... evening courses, provided primarily for people who are working during the day."

Plans call for adding degree programs in special education, political science and computer science down the road, said Craven Williams, president of Greensboro College.

"The future of higher education will require collaboration among those of us in the business for the consumer to have the best possible price," Williams said.

The University Center is a cost-effective model, Williams said.

"(RCC does) an exceptional job in the first two years," Williams said. "The four-year institutions come in to provide the final two years, without it stretching any one of us. ... It would be difficult for Greensboro College to go to Asheboro every day with four or five different degree programs. But by merging our resources with Salem and Pfeiffer, we can provide different degree tracks."

About 50 students — mostly adults who have gone back to school — are enrolled in University Center courses this fall, Shackleford said. More than 11,000 students take courses at RCC, including 2,676 working toward associate's degrees, he said.

The University Center makes good economic sense for its students, Williams said.

"They are paying us on a per credit-hour basis," Williams said, "which costs less than a full-time traditional on-campus student."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com