Whether the subject is music, medical anthropology or the business of health care, Collaborative Online International Learning courses connect students with the world, even as the COVID-19 pandemic persists.
Go Global at Carolina
At Carolina, we’re infusing a global mindset in all we do — from academics to research to service. Global opportunities fuel our students’ learning, our faculty’s research and our innovative spirit.
We are making a global education accessible to all of our undergraduate students, even from home.
The world our students will graduate into is interconnected in complex way that were almost unimaginable when I graduated. To become the next generation of global leaders, our students need access to a global education. I am committed to making sure they get that.
Barbara J. Stephenson, Carolina’s vice provost for global affairs and former U.S. ambassador
Carolina’s Global Mindset
By the Numbers
- 5Title VI National Resource Centers, ranking Carolina sixth among public universities
- 25+languages taught at Carolina, ranging from Chinese to Russian to Lingala to Yucatec Maya.
- 22ndin the world in the Times Higher Education Impact Ranking
- 56thworldwide and 28th ranked U.S. university according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2020-21
- 36thamong the world’s top 1,500 research universities and seventh among U.S. public campuses, according to the 2021 U.S. News and World Report Best Global Universities rankings.
- 30thranked university in the world in the 2020 Academic Rankings of World Universities
- 336Fulbright U.S. Student Program Awards for international research, study or teaching
Global at home
Even at a time of restricted travel, we remain committed to offering an expanded and enhanced global education to our students.
Whether it's taking virtual courses through the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador, exploring a new culture through language courses or attending a virtual lecture through one of Carolina’s global and area studies centers, Tar Heels are still gaining a global education and learning from universities around the world.
Learn more about the Collaborative Online International Learning courses 
Carolina’s Russian Language Flagship Program launched last May with a $1.2 million grant from the National Security Education Program and the Institute of International Education. Carolina’s program is one of just eight Russian Flagship programs in the United States.
Learn more about the Russian Language Flagship Program 
The University’s new Vietnamese language pilot program is allowing students to enroll in introductory Vietnamese language classes at SOAS University of London, which specializes in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, to gain language skills and cultural knowledge about Vietnam.
Read more about the Vietnamese language pilot program
Connecting Carolina and the World
Global and growing
As outlined in Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good, the University builds on its strong international partnerships and an array of programs to guarantee access to a global education for all students. The Well spoke with Barbara Stephenson about how the University is transforming global education.
International and cultural organizations
We want our Tar Heels to expand their minds and grow outside the classroom. Carolina's global focus extends to more than 60 cultural and international student organizations. Learn how you can get involved.
Germanic Studies program
The Carolina-Duke Graduate Program in German Studies utilizes the strengths of the two universities — one public and one private — to offer graduate students at both institutions an unparalleled experience.
Study abroad goes virtual, bringing the outside world closer to students
In the fall, a group of students in the College of Arts & Sciences experienced study abroad virtually with the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador.