As the UNC System’s westernmost campus, we are located just 50 miles west of Asheville in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Our 600-acre mountain campus is surrounded by one of the most biodiverse regions in the state, providing our students with unparalleled research and discovery access for a wide variety of programs. Our proximity to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Blue Ridge Mountains supplies our students with endless outdoor learning and extracurricular opportunities, and led to our title of the No. 1 Outdoor Adventure School in the Southeast. We are consistently ranked as one of the Top 10 public regional Institutions in the South, and our mission focuses on quality education while shaping students to be responsible citizens in an ever-changing world.
12,000+
students
17 to 1
student-to-faculty ratio
83%
of students receive financial aid
The five-year Strategic Plan calls on the UNC System to achieve ambitious goals. Progress toward these goals and metrics will be achieved through the hard work and commitment of institutional leaders, faculty, and staff.
WCU has identified five metrics in the “Prioritize” category: increasing low-income enrollments; increasing rural enrollments; improving low-income completions; increasing rural completions; and increasing critical workforce credentials.
NC Promise
The NC Promise Tuition Plan means students pay tuition expenses of just $500 per semester for in-state students and $2,500 per semester for out-of-state students. This applies to all undergraduate students, online, transfer, freshmen, and currently enrolled students. Student fees, along with room and board costs will not be impacted. NC Promise dramatically reduces the expense of a college education, saving students at least $10,000 over their four years of enrollment.
TOUR WCU!
Take a 360-degree tour of each of our 16 universities, either on your desktop, laptop, phone, VR headset, or through the GEAR UP NC VR app. The GEAR UP NC VR app is the first of its kind, and the largest VR project for social good to date. This marks the first time a university system has used the technology across all of its institutions.
Download the GEAR UP VR app from the iTunes store or from the Google Play store.