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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation’s first state university to open its doors. The cornerstone was laid for Old East, the nation’s first state university building, Oct. 12, 1793.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation’s first state university to open its doors and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century. Authorized by the N.C. Constitution in 1776, the University was chartered by the N.C. General Assembly Dec. 11, 1789, the same year George Washington first was inaugurated as president. The cornerstone was laid for Old East, the nation’s first state university building, Oct. 12, 1793.
Situated in the beautiful college town of Chapel Hill, N.C., UNC has earned a reputation as one of the best universities in the world. Carolina prides itself on a strong, diverse student body, academic opportunities not found anywhere else, and a value unmatched by any public university in the nation.
- 1st among the 100 U.S. public colleges and universities that offers students high-quality academics at an affordable price as ranked by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine. 1st 11 consecutive times since Kiplinger’s began its periodic ranking in 1998. In 2011, the ranking was for both North Carolina and out-of-state students. Kiplinger’s changed its methodology to more strongly emphasize value because of the economic challenges facing higher education. For academics, the formula considered the percentage of students returning as sophomores and the four-year graduation rate. The magazine also favored campuses with low sticker prices and abundant financial aid, with bonus points for schools that keep student borrowing low. Carolina stands out in all of these categories.
- 43rd among the world’s top 400 universities in 2011-2012, according to the London-based Times Higher Education magazine. Based on 13 separate performance indicators designed to capture the full range of university activities, from teaching to research to knowledge transfer. Those indicators cover teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook.
- Since the U.S. Rhodes Scholar program began in 1904, 47 Carolina students have been selected. In the past 25 years, Carolina has produced more Rhodes Scholars than any other national public research university. Among all research universities, the University ranks fifth for the most winners in the last five years, behind only Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton.
- The Carolina Covenant serves as a national model for providing a debt-free education to qualified low-income students. More than 90 universities nationwide have followed Carolina’s lead since 2003. The most recent report card assessing the program shows the Carolina Covenant helps close the gap for earning degrees between low-income and other students. The University compared Covenant Scholars who enrolled in 2005 with a group of 2003 entering students who would have qualified. By several measures, Covenant students performed better than the comparison group and close or equal to the mark for all students.