Discover Carolina, Discover Yourself

ith so many schools to choose from, how do you find the one that’s best for you?  We encourage you to discover the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—a great school with a tradition of excellence and open-mindedness. Carolina offers you much more than an education; here we offer you an exciting journey. You’ll not only discover new ways of looking at the world, you may even discover new insights about yourself. To help you gauge whether Carolina might be right for you, we’ve provided an overview of what you may expect on your Carolina journey.

Top-ranked programs - Carolina offers 70 majors, including African and Afro-American Studies, Latin American Studies, American Indian Studies, and the first Latino/Latina Studies minor in the Southeast.  We teach more than 30 languages (including Swahili and Tamil), and our programs in business, journalism, nursing, public health, pharmacy, education, and information and library science are ranked in the top 10 nationwide. 

Culture of achievement – Carolina led all public universities last year in the number of students winning distinguished national and international scholarships. Eight Carolina students received such scholarships as the Rhodes, Truman, Luce, Marshall, Goldwater and Udall. With 39 Rhodes Scholars (including five African-American scholars), Carolina ranks 2nd among public universities in the number of Rhodes recipients. 

Commitment to diversity – The entire university is committed to building a diverse community from every socio-economic and ethnic background.  We honor and celebrate diversity in all aspects of campus life as recognized by leading publications such as the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education which ranked us 1st among publics (6th overall) in 2005 for having the highest number of African-American first-year students.

Access and affordability – Distinguished as the “best value in the nation” by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance for five consecutive years, Carolina offers comparatively low costs and outstanding need- and merit-based aid.  Additionally, our landmark Carolina Covenant enables eligible students from low-income families to graduate debt-free.  This year, we offered more than 500 merit-based scholarships, and we continue to meet 100% of demonstrated need—65 percent from grants and just 35 percent from loans.

Small classes – 54 percent of classes have fewer

than 20 students, including 120 honors courses and 125 first year seminars.  

Study abroad – Ranked 1st among public universities in the Institute of International Education’s 2006 Open Doors Report, more than 30% of our students study abroad through our 300 programs in 70 countries.

Original research – Nearly 30 percent of undergraduates work with faculty on research in every discipline.  In 2005, an undergraduate made headline news when he and a team of astronomers used the SOAR telescope in Chile to document the most distant stellar explosion ever detected. 

Experiential learning through internships and public service – Whether working on the floor of the London Stock Exchange, assisting surgeons in Honduras, or launching a childcare center in East Africa, Carolina students prepare for their careers, while making a real difference in people’s lives.

Tar Heel pride – Everyone works hard, but we also value the balance between work and play.  Students participate in more than 600 clubs and Greek organizations, including the Carolina Indian Circle, Black Student Movement, Hispanic Association, and the first multicultural fraternity in the south. School spirit isn’t limited to cheering on the Tar Heels — a special thrill in its own right — but extends into the community and world through a vast array of public-service opportunities.

See for yourself

The best way to get to know us is to visit our beautiful campus. Once you’re here, we hope you’ll see that Carolina is a great university — an unusually warm and welcoming place for people from all backgrounds and all walks of life.