(The Center Square) – In 1990, Dan Apple was more than halfway through his undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro when he decided to leave school for the workforce.

“I mistakenly thought that I knew everything and would be fine without finishing college,” Apple told The Center Square. “It didn’t take long to figure out that it wasn’t true. But by that time, I’ve had a wife, I had a kid, responsibilities. House payments.”

Apple, co-valedictorian of his high school class, did well in the business world without a degree, working first as a dispatcher for a trucking company and later owning a freight brokerage company. More recently, he has worked as a project manager for a precast concrete company.

As he grew older, Apple began to wish that he had finished college.

“Many of the people I deal with are engineers,” he said. “There are people with master’s in business administration degrees. There are lawyers. There is just a myriad of higher education that I am dealing with every day.”

He is not alone. There are an estimated 1 million North Carolinians who left college before earning their degree, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.

The University of North Carolina System is working with a company, ReUp Education, to help students like Apple return to college even decades after they left. Ten universities in the UNC System are participating, including UNC Greensboro, where Apple has reenrolled thanks to guidance from the program.

He expects to earn his degree by the end of this year at the age of 55.

“I sent in a request for information and within minutes I got an e-mail and we set up a time for a phone call,” Apple said. “It was a super easy process to get started. All my questions were answered immediately.”

His first class was a summer course in U.S. History. It was a lot different than the college classes he remembered.

“The world changed from 1990 to 2024,” he said. “There was no such thing as a laptop computer when I quit college. Now we are doing everything online.”

This time around, Apple has taken his college classes much more seriously than he did in the first round.

“I am a much better student than I ever was,” Apple said.

Shun Robertson, the system’s senior vice president for Policy and Strategy told the Center Square University System President Peter Hans has a “keen interest” in adult learners.

Since 2023, more than 600 North Carolina students have earned their degrees through the Reup program, Robertson said. The Legislature has funded financial aid options for the returning students as well.

“These are students who have already invested in their education but had to pause before completing their degree,” Robertson said. “ReUp gives us a proactive way to say, ‘We haven’t forgotten about you. We are going to help you finish what you started.”

(The Center Square) – Fifty-two of 104 vetoes in North Carolina’s last gubernatorial administration were overturned by the General Assembly.

Tests for first-term Democratic Gov. Josh Stein are on the way. He issued 14 in 20 days, and more than once Republican chamber leaders and their legions pledged overrides. Immigration policy is definitely a disagreement for the former top prosecutor in the state with history of multiple litigations filed against lawmakers and refusals to back them.

“Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill backs North Carolina law enforcement that works with ICE,” said Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, of the House of Representatives. But the governor “wants North Carolina to be left behind. The House will override his open border vetoes ASAP so we can make our state safer.”

The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act (House Bill 318) and North Carolina Border Protection Act (Senate Bill 153) were two vetoes from the former state attorney general.

“One of the main ways ICE does its job is in local jails,” Hall said. “So, when people are here illegally and they’re charged with crimes, ICE works with local sheriffs to detain and then deport those folks. Unfortunately, in our state right now, we have a small number of sheriffs who are completely refusing to cooperate with ICE, as insane as that may sound.

“So, we’ve taken action here at the General Assembly. We passed a bill making it clear sheriffs have to cooperate with ICE.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, has had similar statements from the upper chamber.

“He’d rather prioritize his far-left donors and their dangerous open-border policies over the citizens of North Carolina who are desperately pleading for us to put an end to the illegal immigration crisis,” Berger said of Stein. “I look forward to the Senate overriding his veto.”

The Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act enhances cooperation with lawmen in the state and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Local law enforcement could not release the suspect until 48 hours after ICE is notified.

Litigation is anticipated if the override happens.

“I cannot sign this bill because it would require sheriffs to unconstitutionally detain people for up to 48 hours after they would otherwise be released,” Stein said in his veto message. “The 4th Circuit is clear that local law enforcement officers cannot keep people in custody solely based on a suspected immigration violation.”

The North Carolina Border Protection Act would give protection to taxpayer dollars through eligibility assurances for state-funded public benefits such as housing tax credits, child care subsidies and caregiver support. The Office of State Budget and Management, if the bill becomes law, would determine if unauthorized immigrants are receiving such benefits.

The North Carolina Border Protection Act would instruct memorandums of agreement to be extended to the director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from the state’s law enforcement agencies – Department of Public Safety, Department of Adult Correction, State Highway Patrol, and the State Bureau of Investigation. Each would be lawfully ordered to determine immigration status of any person in custody.

“Senate Bill 153 would make us less safe,” Stein said. “At a time when our law enforcement is already stretched thin, this bill takes state law enforcement officers away from their existing state duties and forces them to act as federal immigration agents. Furthermore, under current law, people without lawful immigration status already are prevented from receiving Medicaid, SNAP, Section 8 and other benefits.”

In response, Hall said in a statement, “Governor Stein has made one thing clear today: he stands with criminal illegal aliens and the most radical elements of his party’s base over the safety and security of North Carolinians. Make no mistake, the NC House will override the Governor’s veto at the earliest opportunity.”

Overturning a gubernatorial veto requires three-fifths majority in each chamber. Republican majorities are 30-20 in the Senate and 71-49 in the House. Rep. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg, was the lone member of her party in either chamber to support either bill, providing an aye on the Criminal Illegal Alien Enforcement Act.