The Northern Marianas College is undergoing a major transformation. They’re expecting to build five new buildings over the next two years after being severely hit by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018.

“Over the next couple of years, Northern Marianas College will be probably the busiest construction site in the NMI as we will have five active construction sites,” said Frankie Eliptico, NMC Vice President of Administration and Advancement.

The first building is set to be built by April 2025, the 31.4M project is funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education, FEMA, and Office of Insular Affairs. It’s good news since the NMC campus was devastated by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018.

KUAM got an exclusive first look at the progress.

“So what is behind me right now is the student center. This is the flagship building for NMC. It will be the first of five buildings that will be constructed on our campus over the next two years,” said Eliptico.

It’ll transform the area into a college town. The student center will house the financial aid office, tutoring center, admissions office, and all student services. It’s meant to be a gathering space for both students and the community to enjoy.

Rafael Mafnas is a project inspector with GHD representing NMC. He was once a student here.

“15-20% of the project is completed and we have about 40 workers working daily. I am really happy to be part of it. I grew up here my whole life and NMC has always been a place where I would come up and spend time with my parents because they actually both worked here for NMC for quite a while. So it is just nice to see that the campus is finally realizing its dreams come true,” said Mafnas.

NMC is exploring options for students and staff amid the transition -- they’re looking into renting spaces or borrowing government buildings, transitioning classes online, and have already updated their telework procedures. They haven't finalized those plans yet but expect to implement some of them gradually in the next year.

“We are trying to position ourselves to have as much flexibility with as many options so that we can do what is best for our students and our community,” said Dr. Galvin Deleon Guerrero, President of the Northern Marianas College.