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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill , North Carolina , United States

National Ranking: 29

Founded: 1789
Establishment: University
Type: Public
Total Students: 30011

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

History of the University

The University of North Carolina was the first public university in the nation. In 1789, William Richardson Davie wrote the act that established the University. In 1793, he and fellow trustees laid the cornerstone of the first building, Old East. Students arrived in 1795, and UNC became the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century.

The School of Law was established in 1845. Other graduate programs began in 1876, followed by a summer school for teachers in 1877 and medical and pharmaceutical programs in 1879. In 1915, leaders broadened the mission of the University to include research and public service. Professional schools were established as follows:

School of Education (1915)
School of Commerce, now Kenan-Flagler Business School (1919)
School of Public Welfare, now the School of Social Work (1920)
School of Library Science, now the School of Information and Library Science (1931)
Institute of Government, now the School of Government (1931)
School of Public Health, now the Gillings School of Global Public Health (1936)
Division of Health Affairs (1949)
School of Dentistry (1949)
School of Journalism, now the School of Media and Journalism (1950)
School of Nursing (1950)

In 1922, the Association of American Universities (AAU) admitted UNC as a member, an acknowledgment of its growth in research and graduate programs.

In 1931, the North Carolina General Assembly established a Consolidated University comprised of the Chapel Hill campus, Woman’s College at Greensboro, and North Carolina State College at Raleigh. In 1972, it created the UNC system, joining 16 state colleges and universities under a president and board of governors.

Important Facts

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was chartered in 1789 and began admitting students in 1795, making it the first public university in the US. It was also the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century and is one of the original eight Public Ivy schools.

Today, UNC has 14 schools as well as the College of Arts and Sciences. It offers 78 bachelor’s degrees, 112 master’s degrees, 68 doctorate programmes and seven professional degree programmes. Its student population of almost 30,000 is taught by a faculty of more than 3,500. Nearly 90 per cent of classes have fewer than 50 students.

UNC has one of the highest study-abroad rates of any university in the US, with almost a third of its undergraduates studying in other countries before graduation. It has 325 programmes in 70 countries.

The UNC campus is located in the downtown area of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Spread over nearly 730 acres, it is informally divided into three separate areas: north campus (which includes most of the classrooms and some residence halls), middle campus and south campus. There are also plans to build a new research park with expanded science facilities.

The university, with its Tar Heels teams, has a strong athletics programme and is a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which was founded in 1953.

Ranking / Awards

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill is a public research university based in North Carolina in the US. It is ranked:

80th in the world in the QS World University Rankings® 2018
Among the top 150 universities in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017
12th in the world for dentistry in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
14th in the world for nursing in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
23rd in the world for sociology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
16th in the world for pharmacy and pharmacology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject
24th in the world for philosophy in the QS World University Rankings by Subject