What You'll Actually Pay
Price after grants
$2,004 to $24,396 a year for in-state students, depending on income.
College Scorecard 2024 estimate · in-state rates
See the price at your income ↑Sticker price
Full cost before aid: $26,055 a year in-state. Average need-based aid package: $24,333.Aid and debt
29.8%
receive need-based grants
$22,675
average debt at graduation
1,990
students got merit aid
about 9% of undergraduates
$5,633
average merit award
Getting In
A note for out-of-state applicants
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is bound by a North Carolina rule capping how much of its undergraduate class can come from outside the state. If you're applying from outside North Carolina, you're competing for a limited, separately-capped share of seats — a different picture than the admit rate above shows.
Key dates
Test scores
SAT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 1400–1530 · 28% of the class submitted
ACT, middle 50% of those who submitted: 29–34 · 41% of the class submitted
76.2% were in the top 10% of their high school class.
What they value
- Very important
- Course rigor (AP/IB)
- Personal essay
- Recommendations
- Extracurriculars
- Special talent
- Character
- In-state residency
- Important
- Class rank
- GPA
- Volunteer work
- Work experience
- Considered
- SAT/ACT scores
- First-gen status
- Legacy status
- Not considered
- Where you're from
- Demonstrated interest
What this means for you
UNC Chapel Hill rates four things you can work on as Very Important: course rigor, your essay, your recommendations, and your activities.
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Rigor means AP, IB, and dual enrollment carry real weight — make sure your mix of AP or IB courses is strong. The essay is weighted like your GPA. Choose recommenders who can be specific about you, not just confirm your transcript. And depth in a few activities beats a long list.
UNC Chapel Hill doesn't consider demonstrated interest in admissions at all — visits and follow-up emails won't move the needle here.
Source: Common Data Set 2025–26, Section C7 (admissions factors)
UNC Chapel Hill just showed you what it values in an application. Use that to write a Why-UNC Chapel Hill essay that's actually about you — not a template.
Get sourced starting points for your essayStudent Life
38.2% of UNC Chapel Hill classes have fewer than 20 students.
38.2%
under 20 students
48.1%
20 to 49
13.7%
50 or more
Every class section counts, labs and seminars included; first-year courses tend to be larger. UNC Chapel Hill CDS 2025–26, I-3.
14:1
student:faculty ratio
Campus life
14.3%
first-years from out of state
42%
live on campus
6%
of men in fraternities
9%
of women in sororities
Who attends
- White51%
- Asian16.6%
- Hispanic9.8%
- Black6.5%
- Multiracial5%
- Unknown / other3.2%
Enrolled undergraduates; international students are counted separately and not included. UNC Chapel Hill CDS 2025–26, B2.
Popular majors
Will They Graduate?
83.2% of UNC Chapel Hill students graduate in 4 years.
83.2%
finish in 4 years
Entered fall 2019
91.1%
finish in 6 years
Entered fall 2019
96.7%
return after first year
Finishing late means paying for extra semesters, so the 4-year rate is the one that shows the cost.
Students with Pell Grants
87.7% finish in 6 years, against 91.1% of all students.
A 3.4-point gap: Pell Grant students finish less often than students overall.
City & Culture
Beyond the data — what it's actually like to spend four years in Chapel Hill.
Chapel Hill is a compact, leafy college town where Franklin Street runs straight off campus into a strip of restaurants, record shops, and coffee places that students actually use daily.
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The campus is old and green, and almost everything is walkable. It suits students who want a true college-town feel with a low-key pace; Durham is 20 minutes away and Raleigh about 40, so a bigger night out or a professional sports game is an easy trip.
The City
College town
Chapel Hill, NC
Best For
Notable alumni
Notable Alumni
Michael Jordan
Hit the championship-winning shot as a UNC freshman, then won six NBA titles and became the sport's global icon.
Mia Hamm
Won four national championships at UNC and two World Cups with the U.S. national team, becoming the face of American women's soccer.
Andy Griffith
Actor whose Andy Griffith Show ran for eight seasons and remains one of the most rerun series in television history.
James K. Polk
The 11th President of the United States, who graduated first in his class at UNC.
Stuart Scott
ESPN SportsCenter anchor who reshaped how sports are talked about on television, and whose ESPY speech on illness is still widely quoted.
Hugh McColl
Built NationsBank into Bank of America through a series of mergers, turning Charlotte into a major banking center.
Alumni selected for name recognition and range of fields. Not from the Common Data Set.
Traditions
Traditions
Drinking from the Old Well
Students drink from the Old Well on the first day of classes, which is said to bring good grades for the year. The line stretches across the quad, and it's one of the few traditions nearly every student takes part in.
Rushing Franklin Street
After a win over Duke or a national championship, students pour out of dorms and flood Franklin Street, where the town closes the road and the crowd runs through bonfires. It regularly draws tens of thousands of people.
Late Night with Carolina
The official start of basketball season fills the Smith Center for a night of skits, dunk contests, and the first look at both the men's and women's teams. Admission is free for students.
Weekend escapes from Chapel Hill
Weekend Escapes
Within driving distance from Chapel Hill
Raleigh
40 minutesThe state capital, with free museums, a strong music venue circuit, and NHL hockey at the Hurricanes' arena.
Wrightsville Beach
2.5 hoursThe closest good stretch of Atlantic coast, and a standard spring-weekend trip for students with a car.
Asheville & the Blue Ridge Mountains
4 hoursMountain hiking, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a small city built around music, food, and breweries.
Getting there and game days
Getting There & Game Days
Nearest airport
Raleigh-Durham International (RDU)
25 minutes from campus
Flies international — you can start a trip abroad from here.
Pro sports nearby
- Carolina Hurricanes NHL
- North Carolina Courage NWSL
Internships and jobs nearby
Career Proximity
UNC sits about 20 minutes from Research Triangle Park, giving students access to one of the country's densest concentrations of biotech, pharmaceutical, and technology employers.
Top Industries Nearby
Major Employers
- UNC Health
- IQVIA
- Red Hat
- Cisco Systems
- Blue Cross NC
Research Triangle Park — about 20 minutes from campus
Who thrives here
Who Thrives Here
Carolina charges state residents about $9,400 in tuition and fees and meets 100% of demonstrated need, so graduates leave with comparatively low debt — roughly $22,700 — and its academic strengths run to social sciences, life sciences and journalism more than engineering. Greek life is comparatively small at 6% of men and 9% of women; the social center of gravity is basketball and the town, and after a win over Duke students flood Franklin Street by the tens of thousands.