Student Success

To thrive in today’s workforce, North Carolina’s students need more than ambition—they need access to trusted, high-quality academic resources. NC LIVE makes that possible.

“NC LIVE is a blessing because it enables me to follow my research passions and work more efficiently,” said Gywneth Thomas, an alumna of Meredith College. “I need these scholarly works to find the topics I’m using, because if I just looked up random things on Google, half the time, it wouldn’t be pertinent to me at all. NC LIVE guarantees I have scholarly resources—resources that are valued and credible.”

Across North Carolina’s higher education institutions, students and faculty alike rely on NC LIVE to bridge the gap between affordability and opportunity. With rising textbook and subscription costs, free access to a vast digital library of academic journals, videos, test prep materials, and research tools makes an enormous difference.

“Whether it be articles, videos, or test prep, all they have to do is use their student access, and they’re able to get in and use it— off campus, on campus, doesn’t matter —and it’s completely free,” said Matt Childres, professor at both Appalachian State University and Western Piedmont Community College.

For Childres, NC LIVE’s reach extends far beyond the classroom. “One of the neat things about the community college side of things is that most of the classes I teach transfer completely to any North Carolina institution,” he said. “These students are getting a great value through NC LIVE, as well as through our articulation agreements. They’re using academic resources—things we couldn’t otherwise offer at a community college—and that access continues with them through transfer and even through their local libraries.”

That continuity of access—across institutions, across all 100 counties, and across students’ educational journeys—is one of NC LIVE’s greatest strengths. Thanks to NC LIVE, every student at a North Carolina community college, a UNC System school, or a North Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (NCICU) campus has access to the same core collection of more than 1.8 billion academic articles and digital learning tools.

From the largest research universities to the smallest rural campuses, NC LIVE ensures that every North Carolina student can discover, learn, and achieve—no matter where their path begins. What does NC LIVE offer to help students succeed?