University of North Carolina

History

Foundations

Founded in 1789, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (at the time called the University of North Carolina) is one of three schools to claim the title of oldest public university in the United States. It closed from 1871 to 1875, faced with serious financial and enrollment problems during the Reconstruction era. In 1877, the state of North Carolina began sponsoring additional higher education institutions. Over time, the state added a women's college (now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), a land-grant university (North Carolina State University), five historically black institutions (North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, and Elizabeth City State University) and one to educate American Indians (the University of North Carolina at Pembroke). Others were created to prepare teachers for public education and to instruct performing artists.

Initial Consolidation

During the Great Depression, the North Carolina General Assembly searched for cost savings within state government. Towards this effort in 1931, it redefined the University of North Carolina, which at the time referred exclusively to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the new Consolidated University of North Carolina was created to include the existing campuses of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University), and the Woman's College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro). The three campuses came under the leadership of a single board of trustees and a single president, with "Deans of Administration" serving as day-to-day leaders of the three campuses. In 1945, the title "Dean of Administration" was changed to "Chancellor". By 1969, three additional campuses had joined the Consolidated University through legislative action: the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

1971 to present

In 1971, North Carolina passed legislation bringing into the University of North Carolina all 16 public institutions that confer bachelor's degrees. This latest round of consolidation gave each constituent school its own chancellor and board of trustees. In 1985, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the nation's first public residential high school for gifted students, was declared an affiliated school of the university. In 2007, the high school became a full member of the university.

Beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, the UNC system lowered its minimum ACT score for admission from 19 to 17.

Presidents

An asterisk (*) denotes acting president. Two asterisks (**) denotes chairman of the faculty.

Legal mandate

The legal authority and mandate for the University of North Carolina is contained in the State's first Constitution (1776), which provided in Article XLI

The state legislature granted a charter and funding for the university in 1789.

Article IX of the 1971 North Carolina Constitution deals with all forms of public education in the state. Sections 8 and 9 of that article address higher education.

• Sec. 8. Higher education.

• Sec. 9. Benefits of public institutions of higher education.

Statutory provisions stipulate the current function and cost to students of the University of North Carolina.

Institutions

Within its seventeen campuses, UNC houses two medical schools and one teaching hospital, ten nursing programs, two schools of dentistry, one veterinary school and hospital, and a school of pharmacy, as well as a two law schools, 15 schools of education, three schools of engineering, and a school for performing artists. The oldest university, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, first admitted students in 1795. The smallest and newest member is the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a residential two-year high school, founded in 1980 and a full member of the university since 2007. The largest university is North Carolina State University, with 37,323 students as of fall 2023.

While the official names of each campus are determined by the North Carolina General Assembly, abbreviations are determined by the individual school.

Notes

The enrollment numbers are the official headcounts (including all full-time and part-time, undergrad and postgrad students) from University of North Carolina website. This does not include the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics; the figure for NCSSM is taken from its own website.

The following universities became four-year institutions after their founding (date each became a four-year institution in parentheses):

• East Carolina University (1920)
• North Carolina Central University (1925)
• Winston-Salem State University (1925)
• Western Carolina University (1929)
• Appalachian State University (1929)
• Elizabeth City State University (1937)
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke (1939)
• Fayetteville State University (1939)
• University of North Carolina at Asheville (1963)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1963)
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington (1963)

With the exception of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the institutions that joined the University of North Carolina in 1972 did so under their current name. As of 1972, all public four-year institutions in North Carolina are members of the university.

Affiliates

References

References

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