North Carolina, University of, is a state-supported system of higher education. The statewide system includes 16 institutions that grant bachelor’s degrees. Most of them also award master’s and doctor’s degrees. In addition, the system includes the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM), a public residential high school in Durham for gifted students. Each of these 17 schools has its own chancellor. A president heads the entire system. The University of North Carolina’s website at https://www.northcarolina.edu/ offers additional information.
Six of the postsecondary schools are called the University of North Carolina (UNC). They are in Asheville, Chapel Hill, Charlotte, Greensboro, Pembroke, and Wilmington. The other 10 postsecondary institutions are Appalachian State University (in Boone), East Carolina University (in Greenville), Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (in Greensboro), North Carolina Central University (in Durham), North Carolina State University (in Raleigh), the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (in Winston-Salem), Western Carolina University (in Cullowhee), and Winston-Salem State University.
UNC-Chapel Hill is the oldest institution in the UNC system. Its athletic teams are called the Tar Heels. North Carolina State University is the largest UNC school. Its athletic teams are called the Wolfpack.
The University of North Carolina was chartered in 1789. In 1795, it became the first public institution of higher education in the United States to begin enrolling students. The university’s first campus, at Chapel Hill, was the only campus throughout the 1800’s and early 1900’s. From 1931 to 1972, the North Carolina General Assembly gradually brought all of the state’s public four-year colleges and universities into the University of North Carolina system. The NCSSM opened in 1980 and became affiliated with the UNC system in 1985.
