Gaston College

Gaston College is a public two-year community college chartered by the State of North Carolina on February 8, 1963 under the Community College Act. Its first classes met on a temporary basis at a First United Methodist Church on September 23, 1964 with 445 students and 19 faculty members, and the college moved to its permanent site on Highway 321 between Dallas and Gastonia two months later. The college operates three campuses serving Gaston and Lincoln counties: the Dallas main campus at 201 Highway U.S. 321 South; the Lincoln Campus in Lincolnton, established in the mid-1990s; and the Kimbrell Campus in Belmont, which houses the North Carolina Textile Technology Center. Enrollment was 6,443 students in fall 2024, and 74 percent of students attended part time. Gaston College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and its Veterinary Medical Technology AAS program is accredited by the AVMA Committee on Veterinary Technician Education and Activities. Credit career and technical program areas include air conditioning, heating and refrigeration technology, welding, automotive systems technology, electrical systems technology, machining, gunsmithing, textile technology, cosmetology, nursing and allied health, pharmacy technology, veterinary medical technology, and information technology. Additional trades, including plumbing and introductory carpentry, are offered as non-credit workforce and career-training courses rather than credit curriculum programs. Admission is open, and classes are offered days, evenings, online, and in hybrid formats with fall, spring, and summer start dates. Curriculum tuition is charged per credit hour at North Carolina Community College System rates, with a 16-credit-hour semester cap.