Carolina by the Numbers

  • 18,862undergraduate students
  • 3,887faculty
  • 1stand only public university in the United States to award degrees in 18th century
  • 11,049graduate & professional students
  • 65doctoral degree programs and 7 professional degree programs
  • 77bachelor's degree programs
  • 111master's degree programs
Quick facts: More than 329,000 alumni living in 50 states and D.C. and 165 countries. More than 175,000 live in North Carolina. Two Nobel Laureates: Aziz Sancar won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Oliver Smithies won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 43,384 applicants to the class of 2022 for a 13th consecutive record of first-year applicants. It is a 6 percent increase from 2017. A 13-to-1 student-faculty ratio. 87% of classes have fewer than 50 students. World-class education 1st among the 100 best U.S. public colleges and universities that offer students high-quality academics at an affordable price, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine for the 17th time. 3rd best public university in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings in 2018. 5th best public university in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2018 “Best Colleges” guidebook for the 17th year. 11th best public in Forbes’ “2017 America’s Top Colleges” rankings. School of Medicine ranked 1st in primary care program in the U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools” 2019 edition 7th overall in the best undergraduate business program in Bloomberg Businessweek’s 2016 rankings.

Student achievement

Student achievement

    Outreach and service 56 advisers of the Carolina College Advising Corps served 77 North Carolina high schools in the 2017-2018 year to help students find colleges where they will thrive. Peace Corps ranks Carolina 4th in 2018 list of top volunteer-producing large colleges and universities. Named to the 2015 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll; during 2014-2015, students, faculty and staff engaged in 1.08 million hours of public service.
    Accessibility: For over a decade, the Carolina Covenant has offered more than 6,500 lower-income students who earn admissions the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Carolina meets 100% of the documented need of undergraduates who apply for financial aid on time. One of the 30 founding members of the American Talen Initiative, which aims to attract, enroll and graduate 50,000 high-achieving, lower-income high school students at 270 college and universities with the highest graduation rates by 2025. Diversity: Received the 2017 High Education in Diversity Award from Insight into Diversity magazine. Created 21 need-based undergraduate award and graduate fellowships in 2016 named after noteworthy “firsts” to honor those from various backgrounds that make up our rich Carolina community.

    Research and innovation

    Carolina's research enterprise has doubled in the last decade, securing UNC-Chapel Hill's prominence as a top national research university.

    • Over $1 billionreached in annual research expenitures
    • 6thamong research universities for federal funding devoted to development and research
    • 11thin annual research volume among U.S. public and private universities
    • 767research projects directly addressed health, education or well-being of North Carolina citizens in 2016.
    • Over 3,000undergraduates produce orginal research
    • 82016 winners of the National Science Foundation's Early Career Development Awards for junior faculty members