RALEIGH – A public school career initiative in North Carolina appears to be taking off now that advocates have raised $1.5 million in outside money so the program can get 10 times that amount from the federal government.

The N.C. New Schools Project announced Thursday it had secured enough pledges over the past month to get a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

The department announced last month the North Carolina effort was one of 23 groups picked to share $150 million through the federal Investing in Innovation grant competition. But the New Schools Project couldn’t get the money unless it raised 10 percent of its award by late last week.

Fulfilling the match should clear the way for the department to finalize the award next month.

The five-year grant seeks to build upon the 74 “early college” high schools already in the state. These campuses – often small and with a technology-themed curriculum – give students the ability to graduate with two years of college and a high school diploma in five years. The New Schools Project has been involved with the schools from their beginnings.

The federal grant and matching funds speak “to our progress as a state,” project president Tony Habit said in a prepared statement. “The U.S. Department of Education has signaled its confidence in the state’s progressive efforts to improve educational opportunities for all students, and key leaders in North Carolina think that such education innovation is an important investment.”

Project leaders said the grant money will be used to train employees at between 15 and 20 traditional high schools and up to 10 poor, rural school districts to duplicate the kind of academic achievement found at early college high schools in targeted areas. More than 20,000 students would benefit from the grant, with a goal of students completed several college classes before graduating.

Two-thirds of the pledges came from just five sources. The Golden LEAF Foundation, a private nonprofit that manages half of the state’s expected share of the national tobacco settlement pledged the largest single amount at $500,000, the project said.

The project said other top pledged donations include $200,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and $100,000 each from the Raleigh-based A.J. Fletcher Foundation; PPD Inc. founder Fred Eshelman of Wilmington; and Raleigh-based Investors Management Corp., the parent company of the Golden Corral restaurant chain.

The governor recently unveiled a retooled version of the state’s career and college-readiness program that includes the early college high schools.

The Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Education, state Community College System and researchers at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro also are involved in the project.