University of North Carolina: Ranking, Cost, Admission

Overview

University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Overview

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) is a public research institution in Greensboro, North Carolina, and part of the UNC System. Accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, UNCG provides more than 100 undergraduate programs, 61 master’s degrees, and 26 doctoral programs. The university also features the distinguished Weatherspoon Art Museum.

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Former names:

• State Normal and Industrial School (1891–1896)
• State Normal and Industrial College (1896–1919)
• North Carolina College for Women (1919–1932)
• Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (1932–1963)

Motto: “Service”
Type: Public research university
Established: February 18, 1891 (133 years ago)

Parent institution: University of North Carolina
Accreditation: SACS

Academic affiliations: CUMU
Endowment: $368.6 million (2022)
Chancellor: Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr.
Provost: Debbie Storrs

Academic staff: 1,145 (859 full-time, 286 part-time) (Fall 2019)
Students: 19,764 (Fall 2020)
Undergraduates: 15,995 (Fall 2020)
Postgraduates: 3,769 (Fall 2020)

Location: Greensboro, North Carolina, United States
Campus: Urban, 250 acres (100 ha)
Newspaper: The Carolinian
Colors: Gold, white, and navy blue

Nickname: Spartans
Sporting affiliations: NCAA Division I FCS – SoCon
Mascot: “Spiro” the Spartan
Website: www.uncg.edu

History

Established in 1891 as a women’s college by legislative action, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) began classes in 1892. Charles Duncan McIver, credited with its founding, served as the first president. In 1934, the title changed to Dean of Administration and later to Chancellor in 1945.

Originally, the institution emphasized business, domestic science, and teaching, enrolling 223 students with a faculty of 15. The initial 10-acre campus in Greensboro was a donation from R.S. Pullen and R.T. Gray, with state funding of $30,000 allocated for its first building.

As the only public university in North Carolina initially created to educate women, UNCG became the largest all-female institution in the country by 1949. It transitioned from the State Normal and Industrial School (1891) to the Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina (1932) before becoming UNCG in 1963, when it began admitting men.

Recognition and Rankings

Academic rankings

National

• Forbes: 559
• U.S. News & World Report: 258
• Washington Monthly: 96
• WSJ/College Pulse: 501–600

Global

• THE: 601–800
• U.S. News & World Report: 1038

In 2023, Forbes placed UNC Greensboro 485th among 650 universities, liberal arts colleges, and service academies nationwide, ranking it 216th among public universities and 108th in the South. That same year, Money magazine included it in the list of “America’s Best Colleges.”

The 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankings positioned UNC Greensboro at 219th in “National Universities,” 112th in “Top Public Schools,” and 214th in “Best Value Schools.” In 2021, it ranked 258th among 389 national universities, 126th in “Top Public Schools,” and 23rd for “Top Performers on Social Mobility.”

For the 2019–2020 period, Money magazine ranked UNC Greensboro 509th for “best value.” Washington Monthly placed it 96th among 389 national universities in 2020, evaluating social mobility, research, and public service.

Forbes’ 2019 rankings listed UNC Greensboro at 559th nationally, 202nd among public universities, and 128th in the South.

Historic structures include the Julius I. Foust Building (1891), Spencer Hall (1904, 1907), the Quad (1919–1923), the Chancellor’s Residence (1923), the former Aycock Auditorium (1927), renamed UNCG Auditorium (2016), and Alumni House (1937). Other features include a statue of Minerva, to the east of Elliott University Center. Minerva has been a part of campus from the first diploma bearing her likeness in 1894 to the statue erected near the center in 2003. Minerva also inspired the university’s new graphic identity program, which was launched in 2004.

The intercollegiate athletics program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro reaches as far back as the late 1940s. During the 1980s, all Spartan teams competed in Division III (non-scholarship) and then Division II (scholarship) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and all teams have competed in Division 1 since Fall 1991. Between 1982 and 1987 the Men’s Soccer team won the NCAA Division III national championship title every year except for 1984. Today UNCG competes in the Southern Conference, which is made up of 10 schools across five states in the Southeast.

UNCG’s men’s basketball team moved into a “new” home in 2009–10, making the Greensboro Coliseum their home court.

Former UNCG women’s basketball coach Lynne Agee, who retired following the 2010–11 season, ranks among the most successful coaches in intercollegiate women’s basketball history. She is one of just 45 coaches in the history of the women’s game to have engineered more than 600 victories. Under Agee’s guidance, UNCG reached the 20-win plateau 16 times. The Spartans also earned berths into the Division I national tournament once, the Division II tournament once and the Division III tournament seven times. With Agee at the helm, UNCG became one of only 10 teams nationally (all divisions) to reach the NCAA tournament each of the first seven years it was held (1982–88). With UNCG’s 1998 NCAA appearance, Agee became the first women’s coach in history to take teams to the NCAA tournament in all three divisions.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest of the eight academic units that make up the university, with almost 500 full-time faculty in 21 academic departments and seven interdepartmental programs, spanning the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics. John Z. Kiss was appointed Dean on July 1, 2016.^[29]

UNCG requires all students, no matter what their major, to complete a General Education Curriculum (GEC) that includes courses in the traditional liberal arts, as well as courses that introduce them to new perspectives that have become increasingly important today. The college offers most of the university’s general education courses, in addition to the hundreds of more specialized courses that make up its undergraduate majors and graduate programs.

The English Department, established in 1893, offers a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, PhD, and multiple minors. The writing program was, and continues to be, one of the most popular and successful parts of department. A writing center was established in 1985 aimed at students in the College of Arts and Sciences. Today, the university Writing Center caters to all students and faculty and is housed under the Division of Student Success along with a Speaking Center, Digital ACT Studio, and Academic Achievement Center.^[33][34] The department is ranked #7 in 2021 in NC for the English BA. The PhD program has been recognized on U.S. News & World Report’s 2022 Best Graduate School Rankings as the #3 PhD in English program in NC and #99 overall.

The English Department is housed in the Moore Humanities and Research Administration Building, but was previously housed in the now-demolished McIver Building, which was called “the ugliest classroom building in America.”

In May 2017, alum Adam Tarleton gave the commencement address. For a brief period in 1973, Nobel prize winner Louise Gluck held a position as a visiting poet.

Notable Emeritus Faculty include: Fred Chappell and Craig Nova.

The Lloyd International Honors College offers three Honors academic programs that allow students to enhance their general-education studies (International Honors Program), work in their major (Disciplinary Honors Program), or their entire undergraduate education while at UNCG (Full Honors Program). All Honors students take special Honors courses that are generally restricted to no more than 20–25 students and often have an interdisciplinary focus. For those who wish to complete International Honors or Full University Honors, an international experience and a second language are required.

The Bryan School of Business and Economics is the largest of UNCG’s seven professional schools. It was founded in 1969 and is named for Joseph M. Bryan, a prominent figure in North Carolina business and philanthropy. The Bryan School is among the top 1 percent of business schools worldwide that have achieved accreditation in both business and accounting by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.^[41] The Bryan School has 73 full-time faculty, 3,200 undergraduates, and 460 graduate students.^[42] There are also more than 20,000 alumni.

McRae C. “Mac” Banks II is the fourth dean of the Bryan School. The first to hold the Virginia Batte Phillips professorship, Banks started his tenure as dean on July 1, 2011.

• Accounting and Finance
• Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies
• Economics
• Information Systems and Supply Chain Management
• Management
• Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality, and Tourism

• Center for Business and Economic Research
• North Carolina Sales Institute