Raleigh Neighborhood College

Learn about local government services in Raleigh and Wake County through this free series of classes sponsored by the Community Services Department.

Classes have been filled for the spring 2012 session which starts March 1 and concludes with graduation May 24. Applications are now being taken for the fall 2012 session to start in early September.

(Apply online or print an application.)

Neighborhood College offers participants the tools to become actively involved in neighborhood and community organizations. Many graduates go on to become leaders in Citizens Advisory Councils (CACs) and neighborhood organizations.

Students meet Raleigh and Wake County staffers who offer an inside look at the services and programs offered by the City of Raleigh and Wake County. Spring 2012 classes will include a trip to the Raleigh Television Network for a simulated taping and visits with the Raleigh Police Department's K-9 and Mounted Patrol units and SWAT team.

Enrollment is limited to 25 participants to make sure classes are lively and students have a chance to interact with City officials.

Recent graduates offer praise for Neighborhood College:

"As a new resident, it was a great program to immerse myself in the City and really learn the basic nuts-and-bolts things that you would pick up in a lifetime of living somewhere. It helped me cement a permanent connection."
- Jeff Murison, executive director of the Hillsborough Street Community Service Corp.

"Raleigh Neighborhood College just reaffirmed that everybody's opinion matters. We should take an active role in how the City is shaped and making it a city that is comfortable as well as prosperous now and in the future. We each have a hand in that."
- Charles Haywood, employee of the N.C. Justice Department

"It connected me personally more to the City. I feel that I not only know more about the workings of the City but I feel more a part of it because of the experience."
- Clodagh Bastian executive director of International Focus.

Neighborhood College is one of three programs provided by the Community Services Department to help residents develop their civic education and leadership potential. The others are the Citizens Leadership Academy, in which participants build skills to become neighborhood and community leaders, and the Raleigh Neighborhood Exchange, which brings residents together to share information about neighborhood matters.