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. Recent national rankings include the following:

• 1st among the 100 best U.S. public colleges and universities that offer the best combination of top-flight academics and affordable costs as ranked by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine in December 2008. 1st for 8 consecutive times since Kiplinger’s began these periodic surveys in 1998. Kiplinger’s analysis stressed academic quality, as well as cost and financial aid offerings.

• 5th best public university in U.S. News & World Report’s 2009 “Best Colleges” guidebook for the 8th consecutive year. 1st among public campuses for the 4th consecutive year; 9th overall in “Great Schools, Great Prices,” based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.

Carolina offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees in academic areas critical to North Carolina's future: business, dentistry, education, law, medicine, nursing, public health and social work, among others. Offerings include 78 bachelor’s, 107 master’s, 75 doctorate and four professional degree programs through 14 schools and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Students learn from a 3,200-member faculty that includes Oliver Smithies, Excellence Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, who received the 2007 Nobel Prize for work that has fundamentally changed the science of genetic medicine and potentially will help millions of people live healthier lives. Smithies was chosen for his role in introducing gene modifications in mice using embryonic stem cells. Today, scientists around the world use these techniques to produce mice that model heart disease, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and cancer.

The faculty attracted more than $678.2 million in total contract and grant funding in fiscal 2008—more than twice the amount the University attracted decade ago. That’s up from $610 million last year. Awards from the National Institutes of Health exceeded $356 million in fiscal 2008—up more than 13 percent from last year.

Carolina offers talented students the opportunity to learn in a high-quality academic environment. Through the Carolina Covenant and an excellent overall financial aid program, the University is making college possible for qualified students regardless of their financial means. The University’s policies and practices protect affordability, a core value at Carolina that has long benefited the state.

In fall 2008, Carolina enrolled 3,900 first-year students—from a record 21,511 applications. It marked the third straight record year for applications and a five-year increase of 20 percent. More than 79 percent of the entering students were in the top 10 percent of their high school class and nearly 43 percent were among the top 10 students. Average SAT score was 1301. Over the past five years, the quality of the entering class—based on the percentage of students graduating in the top 10 percent of their high school class—has improved more than at all but two of the top 30 national universities.

While continuing to live and work in their hometowns, adult learners can complete programs of study or individual courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through online education, distance education students experience the same high quality instruction, demanding workload and spirited class discussion as students on the main campus.

Individuals interested in graduate and professional education may apply for admission to a wide range of nationally ranked certificate, licensure, and degree programs through the Schools of Education, Information and Library Science, Journalism and Mass Communication, Nursing, Public Health, and the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the School of Medicine.

Individuals interested in individual undergraduate courses may enroll in Carolina Courses Online or Self-Paced Courses Online, which are offered through the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education. Carolina Courses Online are offered on a semester schedule. Class attendance is not required, but students communicate with classmates and their instructor via e-mail and discussion forums. Courses originate and credit is granted from UNC-Chapel Hill. In Self-Paced Courses Online, students complete courses at their own pace, enroll at any time of year, and no class attendance is required.

Courses are equivalent to those taught in Chapel Hill and are taught by outstanding faculty. In many cases, faculty and the instructional support team design courses specifically for distance education programs. The quality instruction, the program content, and the support services engage students as they enroll and complete their academic work. Through its distance education programs, UNC-Chapel Hill is committed to the shared engagement of faculty and students to maintain the highest academic standards, to provide appropriate educational opportunities for different learners through a range of academic experiences, and to serve the people of North Carolina and throughout the world.