Western Carolina University Overview

Located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Western Carolina University is a public institution. The surrounding location of Cullowhee is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town.

What Is Western Carolina University Known For?

• The highest award offered at WCU is the doctor's degree.
• For the 2017-2018 academic year, 71% of the faculty were full-time.

Western Carolina University Rankings

These rankings may look different from those published by other outlets, because we use an outcomes-based approach rather than a subjective one. We get our data from a number of places, including the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard. For more information, check out our rankings and methodology page.

Program Level Awards

These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at WCU.

Rank	Ranking Name	Share
#6	Best Value Physical Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#8	Best Value Engineering Technologies Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Public Administration Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#9	Best Value Law Enforcement & Firefighting Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#10	Best Value Public & Social Service Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#12	Best Value Visual & Performing Arts Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#13	Best Value Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#15	Best Value English Language & Literature Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#15	Best Value History Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It
#21	Best Value Social Sciences Bachelor’s Degree Schools	Tweet It - Post It

Awards From Around the Web

The following table lists some notable awards WCU has earned from around the web.

Rank	Ranking Name	Source
#18	Best Value Colleges for Music	College Factual
#26	Best Value Colleges for Physical Sciences	College Factual
#35	Best Value Colleges for Mathematics & Statistics	College Factual
#38	Best Value Colleges for History	College Factual
#58	Best Value Colleges for Visual & Performing Arts	College Factual
#72	Best Value Colleges for Psychology	College Factual

Where Is Western Carolina University?

Contact details for WCU are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	Highway 107, Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646
Phone:	828-227-7100
Facebook:	http://www.facebook.com/WesternCarolinaUniversity
Twitter:	http://twitter.com/WCU

How Do I Get Into WCU?

You can apply to WCU online at: www.wcu.edu/apply/undergraduate-admissions/apply.aspx

Admission Requirements for WCU

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	required
High School Rank	recommended
High School Transcript	required
College Prep Program	required
Recommendations	considered but not required
SAT or ACT Scores	required
TOEFL	required

How Hard Is It To Get Into WCU?

You'll need to do what you can to make your application stand out if you plan to apply to WCU. The school screens its applicants carefully and has a fairly low acceptance rate of 48%. So, don't just throw your admission packet together at the last minute!

Approximately 39% of accepted students are men and 61% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 49%, and the acceptance rate for women is 48%.

Average Test Scores

About 46% of students accepted to WCU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 510 and 620. Math scores were between 510 and 600.

WCU received ACT scores from 65% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 19 and 24. Math scores were between 18 and 25. Composite scores were between 20 and 25.

Can I Afford Western Carolina University?

The overall average net price of WCU is $18,207. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At WCU, approximately 61% of students took out student loans averaging $6,480 a year. That adds up to $25,920 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at WCU is 6.5%. Although this is lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, you'll still want to keep this in mind when taking out student loans.

Western Carolina University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 10,517 undergraduate students at WCU, with 8,760 being full-time and 1,757 being part-time.

There are also 1,726 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 8,760 full-time undergraduates at WCU, 45% are male and 55% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Western Carolina University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	111
Black or African American	428
Hispanic or Latino	728
White	6,888
International Students	107
Other Races/Ethnicities	498

Geographic Diversity

North Carolina students aren't the only ones who study at Western Carolina University. At this time, 25 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 36 countries are represented at WCU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Canada.

Online Learning at Western Carolina University

There are 8 bachelor’s degree and 11 master’s degree programs available online at WCU. In 2019-2020, 9,903 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at WCU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 13th most popular in North Carolina for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.

Online Affordability Rankings of WCU

The following table shows how WCU is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.

Major	Tuition for In-State Students	Tuition for Out-of-State Students
Outdoor Education	#1	#1
Health & Physical Education	#1	#4
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	#1	#7
Finance & Financial Management	#4	#1
Marketing	#7	#39
Construction Engineering Technology	#7	#1
Allied Health Professions	#13	#25
Health & Medical Administrative Services	#13	#78
Public Administration	#18	#40
Human Resource Management	#19	#74
General Education	#27	#51
Teacher Education Grade Specific	#28	#73
Engineering Technologies	#28	#28
Public Administration & Social Service	#33	#78
Education	#34	#97
Nursing	#58	#115
Educational Administration	#64	#156

Online Growth Rankings of WCU

The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at Western Carolina University was 12.4%. This is the #1,307 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at WCU regardless of major.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of WCU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
Business Administration & Management	5%
Business, Management & Marketing	3%
Construction Engineering Technology	37%
Criminal Justice & Corrections	17%
Educational Administration	8%
Engineering Technologies	5%
General Education	48%
Health & Physical Education	14%
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement & Firefighting	17%
Human Resource Management	4%
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	8%
Public Administration	20%
Public Administration & Social Service	3%

The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at WCU ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at WCU.

Major	Growth Rate Rank
Outdoor Education	#4
Construction Engineering Technology	#14
Finance & Financial Management	#92
General Education	#110
Allied Health Professions	#127
Public Administration	#132
Marketing	#181
Health & Physical Education	#194
Human Resource Management	#206
Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies	#215
Engineering Technologies	#226
Public Administration & Social Service	#288
Educational Administration	#357
Teacher Education Grade Specific	#425

When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.

Western Carolina University Undergraduate Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Business Administration & Management	196	31	48	0	275
Nursing	178	0	57	4	239
General Psychology	163	0	4	0	167
Criminal Justice & Corrections	150	0	0	0	150
Marketing	131	0	15	0	146
Teacher Education Grade Specific	99	0	21	0	120
General Biology	97	0	12	0	109
Social Work	55	0	49	0	104
Educational Administration	0	10	51	11	72
Allied Health Professions	68	0	0	0	68
Chemistry	57	0	9	0	66
Public Administration	45	0	19	0	64
Accounting	43	0	20	0	63
Finance & Financial Management	63	0	0	0	63
Teacher Education Subject Specific	63	0	0	0	63
Communication Sciences	37	0	24	0	61
Health & Physical Education	32	0	24	0	56
Communication & Media Studies	55	0	0	0	55
Construction Engineering Technology	29	0	25	0	54
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions	26	0	0	28	54
General Engineering Technology	52	0	0	0	52
General English Literature	38	4	10	0	52
Human Resource Management	0	0	50	0	50
History	43	0	6	0	49
General Education	0	0	48	0	48
Management Information Systems	42	0	0	0	42
Student Counseling	0	0	41	0	41
Hospitality Management	39	0	0	0	39
Political Science & Government	38	0	0	0	38
Recreation Administration	36	0	0	0	36
Fine & Studio Arts	32	0	4	0	36
General Engineering	34	0	0	0	34
Anthropology	34	0	0	0	34
Music	33	0	0	0	33
Health & Medical Administrative Services	0	0	32	0	32
Romance Languages	29	0	0	0	29
Sociology	29	0	0	0	29
Design & Applied Arts	26	0	0	0	26
Drama & Theater Arts	26	0	0	0	26
Radio, Television & Digital Communication	23	0	0	0	23
Natural Resource Management	22	0	0	0	22
Dietetics & Clinical Nutrition Services	21	0	0	0	21
Health Sciences & Services	21	0	0	0	21
Mathematics	20	0	0	0	20
International Studies	20	0	0	0	20
Electrical Engineering	18	0	0	0	18
Public Health	16	0	0	0	16
Entrepreneurial Studies	15	0	0	0	15
Special Education	15	0	0	0	15
Liberal Arts General Studies	14	0	0	0	14
Computer Science	12	0	0	0	12
Geological & Earth Sciences	12	0	0	0	12
Electronics Engineering Technology	11	0	0	0	11
Philosophy	11	0	0	0	11
Clinical, Counseling & Applied Psychology	0	11	0	0	11
Industrial Production Technology	0	0	10	0	10
Natural Resources Conservation	9	0	0	0	9
Ethnic Studies	0	1	0	0	1
Curriculum & Instruction	0	0	0	0	0
Mental & Social Health Services	0	0	0	0	0
Science, Technology & Society	0	0	0	0	0
Outdoor Education	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	2,378	57	579	43	3,057

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics

More about our data sources and methodologies.