The App State Hickory campus, pictured in April 2024, opened to its inaugural class of Mountaineer students on Aug. 21, 2023. Phase 2 renovations to the facility are underway and include creating more classrooms and offices on the second floor, with some new classrooms to be ready by fall 2025. Photo by Wes Craig and Chase Reynolds
The renovation of App State’s Hickory campus is one of several major construction projects underway at Appalachian State University to enhance the App State Experience.
The project supports App State’s strategic priorities, as well as the university’s goals and metrics associated with the University of North Carolina System’s strategic plan. It will benefit students, academics and the region.
About
App State has established a new campus to expand public higher education access and outreach in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metro Area. The Hickory campus, housed in the former Corning Optical Communications building, located at 800 17th St. NW in Hickory, opened to students on Aug. 21, 2023 — the first day of classes for the fall 2023 semester. App State is offering the Hickory First Scholarship, a one-time scholarship, to first-year and transfer students who meet the academic requirements and enroll at the Hickory campus. Learn more about the Hickory campus and how to apply.
Numerous undergraduate degree programs are available to students attending App State at the Hickory campus. The facility also offers a range of on-site support services and resources for students, which will evolve over time to meet students’ needs — with additional services and resources to be implemented in phases. These include:
- Academic support services, including advising and tutoring.
- Admissions and transfer services, along with registrar services.
- A library, a writing center and a testing center.
- Technology support.
- Disability services.
- Financial aid services.
- Career development opportunities.
- Student health and counseling services.
- Sustainability initiatives.
- Student recreation opportunities.
- Clubs and organizations, as well as campus activities.
App State closed on the purchase of the Corning building on Nov. 19, 2021. At 225,800 square feet, the six-story building is larger than any building on App State’s Boone campus, including the 203,000-square-foot Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences. The building sits on 15.7 acres of land and includes large open spaces, a cafeteria and nearly 700 parking spaces. It is only a short drive from the second North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics campus, which opened in June 2022 in Morganton.
The campus has frontage along Highway 321, is located less than 2 miles away from the Hickory Regional Airport and 4 miles away from Interstate 40, and is close to downtown Hickory as well as two regional hospitals.
Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton and Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro are all within a one-hour drive of the campus, and all four are partners in the Aspire Appalachian Pathway Program, which provides a seamless pathway for students enrolled at partner community colleges to complete their degrees at App State. Also nearby, within an hour’s drive of the Hickory campus, are Mitchell Community College and McDowell Technical Community College.
Built in 1963, the building received an addition in 1972 and the top two floors were added in 1986. Corning moved out of the building in late 2019, and the building remained empty until App State’s purchase of the building in November.
Until November 2021, Hickory was the largest metropolitan area in North Carolina that did not have a major, public university campus.
A panoramic view of the new cybersecurity lab located on the second floor of App State's Hickory campus, pictured Nov. 15, 2024. Photo by Troy Tuttle
Status
App State’s Hickory campus opened to its inaugural class of students on Aug. 21, 2023 — the university’s first day of classes for the fall 2023 semester. The facility is open for prospective students and their families, who can visit the campus Monday–Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. App State staff are on-site to assist students who wish to enroll at the campus. Learn more about information sessions and open house events for the Hickory campus.
Phase 2 renovations to the Hickory campus are underway and are being completed in phases. These renovations include creating more classrooms and offices on the second floor, with some new classrooms to be ready by fall 2025, as well as a new computer lab, cybersecurity lab and sciences lab and a student lounge/study area. The computer lab and sciences lab opened the week of Sept. 2, 2024, and the cybersecurity lab opened the week of Sept. 23, 2024. Additionally, a coffee kiosk was installed for the campus’s student lounge in November 2024.
Phase 2B construction work for the second-floor renovations is nearly 60% complete as of May 2025. Recent construction work at the campus includes upgrades for the building’s electrical panels, as well as renovating the ceiling of the main lobby.
Finishing touches for the campus’s Phase 1 renovation were completed the week before the facility’s opening. Completed Phase 1 renovation projects at the Hickory campus include:
- Classroom technology upgrades, including high-speed wired and wireless access and student workspaces that have the latest in collaborative technology.
- New controls for the building’s HVAC system, which will optimize efficiencies and monitor performance to quickly identify issues that may need to be addressed.
- The replacement of the facility’s roof with a new, energy-efficient membrane roof that is designed to accept future solar arrays.
- Energy-efficient LED light fixtures and brighter, code-compliant lighting for parking lot lights.
- The removal of cubicles to open up classroom space, and the installation of additional classrooms and lounge space.
- New carpet, ceilings, paint and furniture, with some existing furniture being utilized.
- New exterior and interior signage.
An energy efficiency study of the Hickory campus building was conducted in 2023 and provided recommendations for ways to increase the facility’s energy efficiency — including replacing the current building lighting with high-efficiency LED lighting, installing a new exterior cladding, or layer, to the building, and upgrading the facility’s HVAC system with new, efficient air handlers. LED lighting and air handlers are being incorporated as each phase of the Hickory campus progresses.
Chancellor Heather Hulburt Norris, App State vice chancellors and vice provosts, and other members of campus leadership are working several hours a week at the Hickory campus. Deans and other App State leadership will have a presence at the campus as needed, based on program offerings.
In preparation for opening the campus, former App State Chancellor Sheri Everts and her leadership team met regularly with state and local government officials and education and business leaders to ensure the university envisioned the best academic support to meet the needs of the region. She established the App State Hickory Campus Advisory Council in spring 2022, which comprises campus leaders and business, education, government and civic leaders from Hickory and the surrounding area who are assisting App State in evaluating the needs of the community and greater area as the Hickory campus evolves.
Partnerships with the City of Hickory and other local government, education, civic and business leaders in the area allowed the university to hold listening sessions with many constituency groups representing Hickory and the surrounding areas. Through these, and the meetings of the Advisory Council and the App State Faculty Hickory Campus Task Force, App State has learned much about what the area needs and expects from its state university. More than 400 individual comments from campus and community members were synthesized.
Norris and Academic Affairs leaders continue to refine the academic plan for the Hickory campus so that program offerings meet the evolving needs of the Hickory area. Among the course and program offerings:
- Basic education courses for students who want to get an App State degree while attending classes at the Hickory campus.
- Business classes, including accounting, finance, information technology, management, marketing and supply chain management; programs in supply chain management, hospitality and tourism, accounting, computer information systems and cybersecurity, finance and banking, management and more; and a broad-based professional studies program for those who want to design a four-year degree, complete a degree they have begun with a specialization in business, or turn their associate degree into a four-year business-related degree.
- Elementary education teacher preparation, for those who wish to complete a degree they have begun with a specialization in teaching, or turn their associate degree into a four-year elementary education degree.
- Health sciences programs, including public health, social work, health care management and communication sciences and disorders.
- Numerous humanities offerings, including programs in English, global studies, history, religious studies, philosophy, and languages, literatures and cultures.
- Programs in the social sciences, including criminal justice, geography, sociology, public relations and psychology.
The progression of Hickory campus program offerings will include:
- Expansion of business offerings, through data analytics and financial literacy, and more advanced accounting, information technology, marketing and management offerings.
- Additional health sciences programs, including nursing, and programs focused on rural health care to meet the needs of the region.
- Programs and courses offered through the Department of Sustainable Technology and the Built Environment and applied design/digital fabrication.
- General education courses, as well as major-specific courses needed for students to complete their degrees efficiently, and for those who transfer in with associate degrees, will be offered in accordance with demand.
- Engineering and aviation are in App State’s long-term discussions, and the university is reviewing its current academic offerings to evaluate current courses as foundational pieces for these programs in the future.
A third location of the Beaver College of Health Sciences Interprofessional Clinic, offered through App State’s Appalachian Institute for Health and Wellness, is located on the north side of the Hickory campus building, with a separate entrance. The clinic has already begun offering a support group for stroke and traumatic brain injury patients and caregivers and will also offer aging well programs, with free screenings for people ages 60 and above focusing on cognition and fall risk assessment.
Additional services under discussion for the future include on-site child care, performing and visual arts, a data science center, and opportunities for community and corporate engagement. App State plans to take a phased approach in offering more extensive academic programs and student services and resources and will continue to build upon them over time.
Learn more about the undergraduate degree programs offered at App State’s Hickory campus.
How is it funded?
App State paid nearly $1.02 million to purchase the Corning building in fall 2021 and has received $50 million in state-allocated funding — as part of the FY 2021–22 biennial budget bill and the latest state budget — to support renovations to the building.
Of the $9 million in state-allocated funding received in 2021, approximately $6 million supported Phase 1 upgrades to the facility, and the remaining funds, around $3 million, support the initial Phase 2 renovations for the building’s second floor.
Through the latest state budget, the university has received $41 million for additional Hickory campus renovations. The allocation schedule for this funding is as follows:
- $13.4 million in fiscal year 2024–25.
- $24.3 million in FY 2025–26.
- $3.3 million in FY 2026–27.
Who will benefit?
In 2018, when former Chancellor Everts was a commissioner and co-chair of the Higher Education Task Force for myFutureNC, a statewide commission on educational attainment, the commission set a goal to ensure that 2 million North Carolinians have a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree by 2030.
Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, Western Piedmont Community College in Morganton, Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, Mitchell Community College in Statesville and McDowell Technical Community College in Marion are all within a one-hour drive of the App State Hickory campus. These six schools are partners in the Aspire Appalachian Pathway Program, which provides a seamless pathway for students enrolled at partner community colleges to complete their degrees at App State
Additionally, with the opening of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) Western Campus in Morganton, App State and NCSSM will be able to develop partnerships on research projects, particularly related to sustainability and resilience in Western North Carolina.
How does it support App State strategic priorities?
The Hickory campus aligns with App State’s fundamental purpose of teaching, research and service, and it supports two of App State’s six strategic priorities for 2022–27, namely:
- Providing Exceptional Educational Experiences that foster student success and add demonstrated value to students’ investment in higher education; and
- Advancing Local, Regional and Global Engagement to foster lasting economic vitality.
The university’s expansion into the Hickory area allows App State to increase access to public higher education for the more than 365,000 individuals who reside in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton area (2020 U.S. Census data). This will help meet the myFutureNC goal of 2 million North Carolinians having obtained a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree by 2030.
App State’s innovative, relevant academic programs provide students with career readiness skills, preparing graduates for professional success — in communities across the state, the nation and the world. More than 100,000 App State alumni live and work in North Carolina, contributing to the state’s communities — including those that are rural and underserved.
How does it support UNC System Goals and Metrics?
Positioning an App State campus in the Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton Metro Area aligns with the university’s mission to increase access to higher education and with the UNC System Strategic Plan priorities of:
- increasing access to underserved populations;
- maximizing affordability; and
- expanding the UNC System’s contribution to the state’s critical workforces.
Video Transcript
In 1899, the Doughertys began their founding mission of providing access to education in the mountains of North Carolina. It started with 53 students enrolled at the Watauga Academy, and, over 120 years later, has grown into App State, the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast. Their vision of access to education now extends to the heart of the Catawba Valley with App State’s Hickory campus.
Earn the same unparalleled education closer to home, with expert faculty and more than 100 undergraduate majors available for students who wish to begin or continue their four-year degrees at App State. Whether you’re on the mountain or in the valley, App State is here for you! Apply today, and see why it’s great to be a Mountaineer.
- Campus Construction Projects
- State Funding Support
- Master Plan
- Glossary
- Parking and Transportation Messages
Major current projects:
Major completed projects:
- Holmes Drive Parking Deck
- Dining Facilities Renovations — Central Dining Hall and Trivette Hall
- University Bookstore Renovation
- Residence Halls
- Child Development Center Expansion
- Kidd Brewer Stadium — North End Zone
- Career Development Center relocation
- Sanford Hall Renovation
- Blue Ridge Way
- NPHC Plots and Garden
- Leon Levine Hall of Health Sciences
- Founders Plaza
