GREENVILLE – East Carolina University Chancellor Cecil Staton isn’t shy about saying ECU serves rural and underserved parts of North Carolina.

“I like to say, if North Carolina didn’t have ECU, it would have to go out and build it tomorrow,” Staton says in the accompanying video.  He goes on to highlight various aspects in which ECU makes an impact on the state:

• The largest business school in the state.  “We put more people into the economy, particularly in rural and underserved areas, our smaller towns, than any other university,” Staton says.  “And they have an enormous impact.”
• The state’s largest College of Education.  ECU puts more educators into the state’s public schools than any other institution.
• The largest College of Nursing.  “We put more nurses into health care across North Carolina than any other institution,” he says.
• A School of Dental Medicine that has developed a national model for delivering care to rural and underserved patients at clinics that stretch across the state.
• And ECU’s Brody School of Medicine ranks No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the nation in producing primary-care physicians who practice in rural and underserved areas.

The 1,400 Brody doctors who practice in North Carolina create a combined economic impact of $3 billion a year, Staton says.

“So our economic impact stretches across the state of North Carolina,” he says.

“When you have an institution putting more educators into public education, more nurses into health care, more physicians who stay in state, more dentists who stay in state, the economic impact is enormous.  And we take great pride in that.

“I believe there’s no greater return on investment for a taxpayer dollar in higher education in the state of North Carolina than what you get right here at ECU.”