Extended App Fee Waiver & Early Action deadline through Dec. 1

Students living in a FEMA-designated North Carolina disaster-declared county are eligible to submit their application to UNC Asheville for free through December 1. We have also extended the Early Action deadline for students living in these counties.

Learn More About the Extended DEADLINES
WELCOME TO UNC ASHEVILLE

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This Is UNC Asheville

What if you started where exploration and innovation meet? At the heart of undergraduate research and hands-on learning? At the center for curiosity and collaboration? Here at UNC Asheville, you never have to ask “What if?” Instead, you ask “What’s next?”

Education for Tomorrow’s Leaders

Encounter the liberal arts and sciences in a dynamically shifting, radically evolving world through UNC Asheville’s 90+ academic programs.

Our diverse academic environment nurtures excellence and innovation in popular majors such as psychology, English, business, environmental studies, biology, art, and computer science, along with other unique areas of study such as new media, mechatronics, atmospheric sciences, and so much more. 

And the classroom is just the beginning. Hone your skills, make connections, and discover new passions in one of our 60+ student organizations and clubs.

Discover Majors and Programs Clubs and Activities

“You can have diverse interests, and you can let yourself go in multiple directions. No one way is less valuable or less valid than any other. It just makes your understanding of that topic so much richer, and I think that makes me a better person and a better historian every day.”
Liz Torres Melendez – Class of 2018
Assistant Site Manager at the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum

“Thanks to the McCullough Fellowship, I was able to partner with the Food Justice Planning Initiative to conduct research and analysis on communication around food work in Western North Carolina. I would love to go to graduate school for journalism and continue learning about community-partnered research and reporting.”
Addison Wright – Class of 2024
Mass Communication / Political Science double major

“Being at a small school, I’ve really valued having such a great relationship with my professors and so much one-on-one support. I really love and value that here.”
Gabbie Moneymaker – Class of 2023
Biology major

“After I graduate from UNC Asheville, I plan on going to graduate school to pursue mycological research. I’m really glad I got this opportunity to work on something that I’m passionate about!”
Ari Puentes – Class of 2024
Biology Major, Barry Goldwater Scholarship Winner

“Almost all of my professional development happened while I was at UNC Asheville. The academic environment the professors fostered was so welcoming that I had the time to not only do school, but also do some more extracurricular, professional building. All of the education there really was just top notch. I feel like I’m well prepared and really well connected moving forward.”
Evan Fisher – Class of 2023
Atmospheric Science

“I tell people this all the time, and I really mean this: one of the best decisions that I ever made was to go back to school and to do it at UNC Asheville.”
Shawn Winebrenner – Class of 2019
Bachelor of Fine Arts and Teacher Licensure Alumnus, Elementary Visual Arts Teacher

“UNC Asheville, especially the Political Science Department, will always have my heart. It’s a great program filled with great professors who want to see you succeed, and it’s been very valuable to me to have professors support my path through college.”
Jessie Frank – Class of 2023
 Political Science major, Student Athlete, Associate Editor of Dignity – undergraduate human rights journal

“I was at [another school] for my first year, and it was 33,000 people versus 3,300 here, and 300 people lecture classes versus 21 person classes here. I’ve made a lot of great relationships with professors.”
Jacob Diehn – Class of 2023
Economics major, Environmental Studies minor

“Having small classes and being close with my professors, that was definitely one of the positives here. I talked to other people from big universities, and they just didn’t have the same experience.”
Veronika Mojik – Class of 2023
Biology and Chemistry double major

“I knew coming out of high school I liked engineering, but I didn’t exactly know what industry I wanted to work in. This work gave me a glimpse of the future. It helped affirm for me that I want to apply engineering to something that benefits the world. Using engineering to better the environment seems like a noble way to spend your life.”
Trevor Goldston – Class of 2025
Mechatronics Engineering major

“When you have a humanities program, when you have ethics classes, every student in every discipline is being taught that big picture aspect they have in what they do and the effect it has on the world. When that is always front and center in the curriculum here and in the community’s engagement with the campus, that changes the dynamic.”
Karen Brinson Bell – Class of 1996
Executive Director of the NC State Board of Elections

“The biology department here is pretty amazing; it’s small enough to make it a close knit learning environment but we also have so many resources to get hands-on experience, which is a big deal for undergraduates in science.”
Michelle Paredes – Class of 2024
Biology Major

“I really like the way the education program was mostly focusing on getting a math degree with the licensure part added on to it as opposed to education focus with math on the side. I wanted to have my math degree to fall back on. That was part of why I chose UNC Asheville. It’s also small, I do better within a smaller school, so it’s perfect.”
Mikayla Wright – Class of 2022
Math and teacher licensure alumna, Buncombe County Beginning Teacher of the Year 2024

“Everyone in the department takes the time to get to know you and goes the extra mile in supporting you. I had professors go out of their way to help me with my grad school applications, from zoom calls over the summer to weekly office visits. I wouldn’t be going to the University of Georgia to get my masters without the foundation I’ve built here at UNC Asheville!” 
Emily Jacquez – Class of 2024

Meet Your Mentors

Embrace extraordinary experiences in the liberal arts and sciences alongside faculty who are intentional about fostering growth at every turn. At UNC Asheville, dedicated faculty mentors guide you toward your next great adventure, whether it’s developing treatments for antibiotic-resistant bacteria, pitching your social-entrepreneurship business plan, or installing your first art exhibition.

Undergraduate Research

“I think it’s important for students to be engaged in work that can positively impact the community. I think it’s important for those of us in academia to produce information that can help the community, that serves the community, and that is in the interests of the community.”

Kathleen Lawlor
Associate Professor of Economics

“I value teaching immensely and believe that engaged, energetic, and thoughtful teaching is one of the most important contributions that I can make. Indeed, my most profound conviction is that learning is transformative and liberatory. ”

Keya Maitra
Professor of Philosophy

UNC Asheville New Media Professor Lei Han

“Nothing brings more satisfaction to me than seeing my students succeed in their chosen endeavors. This honor is providing the fuel for the continuous pursuit of my lifelong passion of helping my students reach their highest potential.”

Lei Han
Professor of New Media

Asheville Is Your Classroom

At UNC Asheville, you’ll find a university that believes in you and a city that inspires you. Asheville is one of the U.S. News and World Report’s Best Places to Live in the U.S. (2022–23), Yelp’s #1 Foodie City in the U.S. (2022), and Livability’s #19 Top 100 Best Places to Live in America (2022). 

We work hard on campus so we can play hard beyond it in mountains and theaters, forests and stadiums, rivers and restaurants—wherever your expeditions lead you.

Visit Us Our Location
A UNC Asheville student cutting boards outside a Habitat for Humanity home.
UNC Asheville students, faculty and staff participating in a day of service with Habitat for Humanity through the Key Center for Community Engaged Learning.
A UNC Asheville professor with a student in a chemistry lab.
UNC Asheville students in the NC GlaxoSmithKline Scholars Program work closely with faculty on intensive, cutting-edge projects that address important questions in areas such as antibiotic resistance, cancer cell behavior, and organic synthesis of disease therapeutics.
A UNC Asheville student playing a ukulele on top of a mountain.
At UNC Asheville, the liberal arts and sciences experience is enhanced with outdoor adventures, with group trips to some of the best, hiking, paddling, climbing, biking, and backpacking on the east coast.
A group of UNC Asheville students backpacking through the woods.
UNC Asheville’s Outdoor Programs offer gear rentals, guided trips, and outdoor leadership training program, and more to help you get outside and explore.
UNC Asheville students using a telescope at the Lookout Observatory
UNC Asheville’s Lookout Observatory is our window to the universe, with hands-on astronomy experience for students and stargazes open to the Asheville community.
A UNC Asheville student working at a desk
Undergraduate research takes many forms at UNC Asheville, from scientific analysis to creative projects.
UNC Asheville students working with a professor in a computer lab.
With a student-faculty ratio of 13:1, at UNC Asheville students work closely with award-winning professors who are experts in their field.

UNC Asheville Stories

Our community cultivates an environment where curiosity and exploration bloom. Every UNC Asheville student has a story: a story of turning their curiosity into bold ideas, creative projects, or ground-breaking research. 

We celebrate those stories, on campus and beyond, as a testament to all that’s possible when we make space for the unexpected.

Read Our Stories

Agriculture Students’ Post-Storm Harvest Brings Fresh Produce to Those in Need

UNC Asheville Welcomes Third-Largest Class of New Students for Fall 2024

Beyond Four Walls: A New Media Major’s Local Digital Marketing Internship

Bulldog Athletics

UNC Asheville is home to 16 NCAA Division I Sports teams, with more than 30 Big South Conference Championships to our name. Our student-athletes frequently garner national accolades, such as men’s basketball player Drew Pember, who has been voted the Big South Conference Howard Bagwell Male Athlete of the Year for the 2022-23 season. Bulldogs have earned recognition as All-Americans and excel in the classroom and community, regularly earning academic distinctions and engaging in thousands of combined hours of service. Go, Bulldogs!

More About Athletics

Take the Next Step: Your Story Begins Here.

UNC Asheville awaits. Connect with our admission staff to schedule a campus visit or information session, ask questions about your application, and learn more about the enrollment process. This is where it all starts.

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