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A Great Day to be a Tar Heel

Tar Heels are creating a positive impact on the world by improving communities and inspiring change through their extraordinary talents.

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Discover Carolina

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is at the heart of what’s next, preparing a diverse student body to become creators, explorers, innovators and leaders in North Carolina, throughout the nation and around the world.

In Chapel Hill, Tar Heels develop a voice for critical thought and the courage to guide change.

Carolina’s nationally recognized teaching, groundbreaking research and dedication to public service continue a legacy that began when the University was chartered in 1789 and opened to students four years later.

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  • 1stand only public university in the United States to award degrees in the 18th century
  • No. 1public university in the South according to the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education 2022 College Rankings
  • No. 5public school in the country in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Colleges rankings
  • 54Rhodes Scholars since the program began in 1902
  • 58national championships won by the Tar Heels
  • 356,000+alumni in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. Territories and 159 countries.

Meet a Tar Heel

  • Isabel standing in the water.

    Isabel Silva-Romero

    Isabel Silva-Romero, a UNC-Chapel Hill graduate student, studies how ocean temperatures affect the food web on rocky reefs around the Galápagos Islands. Her field site is located at the Galapagos Science Center — a collaboration between the UNC Center for Galapagos Studies and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito that facilitates research, teaching, and outreach initiatives linked to the Galápagos.

  • Matthew Troyer in front of his photography

    Matthew Troyer

    A master of fine arts student, Matthew Troyer is channeling his experience in the Marine Corps to create photography that shares the military experience with the civilian population and fellow veterans.

  • Ricardo sitting at a desk.

    Ricardo Crespo

    Having grown up surrounded by fields in southeastern North Carolina, Ricardo Crespo is training to practice medicine in the same kinds of rural communities. He’s starting that mission with Carolina’s Student Health Action Coalition.

  • Jay Garner in a referee uniform.

    Jay Garner

    Growing up, Jay Garner always preferred to be the referee for backyard football. The Tar Heel has earned his ref stripes at Carolina as an official for Campus Recreation's intramural sports.

  • Katherin Xing standing outside.

    Katherine Xing

    A competitive figure skater and president of the UNC Figure Skating Club, Katherine Xing is inviting more Tar Heels into the sport with the goal of empowering the skaters and providing a mindset that they can apply to anything they do in life.

  • Gilliam on West Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, NC. January 13, 2023. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)

    Cortland Gilliam

    Double Tar Heel Cortland Gilliam ‘14 has been named the Town of Chapel Hill’s second poet laureate. The UNC School of Education doctoral candidate is a scholar, educator, cultural organizer and now, the Town’s official poet.

Top Stories

  • A college of students holding items.

    Prized possessions

    Whether it was a family heirloom or a specific outfit, the Tar Heels Granada, Spain, as part of Carolina Global Launch, this fall brought a piece of home with them abroad.

  • Students stand on a wall in spain.

    Tar Heels abroad

    The Carolina experience doesn’t necessarily have to start in Chapel Hill. Tar Heels in Carolina Global Launch begin it abroad. The program enables first-year students to study abroad at a partner university during their fall semester.

  • Holmes and his study abroad group touring the Isle of Skye.

    Becoming a Tar Heel abroad

    Jackson Holmes spent his first semester as a Tar Heel studying at the University of Stirling in Scotland as part of the Carolina Global Launch program.

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