Higher education
The Sandhills region has a variety of colleges to choose from.
Six area community colleges offer two-year degrees, certificates, continuing education credits and job specific classes. Most community colleges have agreements with four-year institutions to allow students to transfer credits easily.
The University of North Carolina system has two four-year public schools in the area - Fayetteville State University and the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.
The two state schools are both historic. FSU was created to train black teachers, and UNCP was founded to educate American Indian teachers.
Campbell University
The university was founded Jan. 5, 1887, by the Rev. James Archibald Campbell. Campbell believed that no student should be denied because he was unable to pay.
Before 1934, the Campbell athletic teams were known as the hornets. The school mascot is now a fighting camel.
The university has the only undergraduate trust and wealth management program in the country.
For more information, call 893-1200 or visit www.campbell.edu.
University of North Carolina at Pembroke
The university was founded in 1887 to train American Indian teachers. It is a member of the 16-institution University of North Carolina system.
The historically American Indian college was allowed by the NCAA to keep its mascot - an Indian brave.
Sports teams routinely touch Tommy - a bronze statue of a red-tailed hawk - for luck before big games.
For more information, call (910) 521-6000 or visit www.uncp.edu.
Methodist University
The university was founded in 1956 after a citizens group formed to bring a private college to Fayetteville. The school changed its name from Methodist College in 2006.
More students who identify themselves as Catholic attend the school than any other denomination.
Get Between the Covers - Developing a Culture of Reading was the theme picked for the university's quality enhancement plan. The plans are required by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools during the accreditation process. MU officials have developed reading nooks around campus to encourage reading.
For more information, call (800) 488-7110 or visit www.methodist.edu.
Fayetteville State University
The university was founded in 1867 as the first state college for black teachers. Since 1972, it has been one of 16 institutions in the University of North Carolina system.
When the moon and stars align in interesting ways, the college's planetarium and observatory puts on special programs for the public. For more information, call 672-1650.
The public radio station WFSS 91.9 FM is owned and operated by FSU. The noncommercial station airs National Public Radio programs 18 hours a day.
For more information, call 672-1371 or visit www.uncfsu.edu.
Fayetteville Technical Community College
The college was founded in 1961 as the Fayetteville Area Industrial Education Center.
In 2008, the college launched i3D, a new interactive technology that uses holographic images to teach students in far flung locations.
Students studying mortuary practices prepare unclaimed bodies for burial.
For more information, call 678-8473 or visit www.faytechcc.edu.
Other Colleges
Bladen Community College, (910) 879-5500
Sandhills Community College, (910) 692-6185
Central Carolina Community College, (919) 775-5401
Robeson Community College, (910) 272-3700
Sampson Community College, (910) 592-8081, Fax: (910) 592-8048
Southeastern Community College, Whiteville, (910) 642-7141
St. Andrews Presbyterian College, (910) 277-5555