Education at Western Carolina University

If you plan to study education, take a look at what Western Carolina University has to offer and decide if the program is a good match for you. Get started with the following essential facts.

WCU is located in Cullowhee, North Carolina and has a total student population of 12,243. In 2021, 184 education majors received their bachelor's degree from WCU.

Want to know more about the career opportunities in this field? Check out the Careers in Education section at the bottom of this page.

WCU Education Degrees Available

• Bachelor’s Degree in Education
• Master’s Degree in Education
• Doctorate Degree in Education

Online Classes Are Available at WCU

If you are a working student or have a busy schedule, you may want to consider taking online classes. While these classes used to be mostly populated by returning adults, more and more traditional students are turning to this option.

WCU does offer online education options in education for the following degree levels for those interested in distance learning:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Master’s Degree

WCU Education Rankings

The following rankings from College Factual show how the education progam at WCU compares to programs at other colleges and universities.

Note: Rankings don't always give a complete picture of a school's strengths and weaknesses, so it's a good idea to extend your research and also look at other factors when trying to decide if the school is right for you.

Bachelor’s Degree Overall Quality & Other Notable Rankings

The education major at WCU is not ranked on College Factual’s Best Colleges and Universities for Education. This could be for a number of reasons, such as not having enough data on the major or school to make an accurate assessment of its quality.

Ranking Type	Rank
Best Value Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	13
Best Value Education Schools	110
Most Popular Online Education Schools	149
Best Value Education Doctor’s Degree Schools	217
Most Popular Online Education Graduate Certificate Schools	260
Best Education Doctor’s Degree Schools	296
Most Popular Education Master’s Degree Schools	322
Most Focused Education Graduate Certificate Schools	374
Most Focused Education Bachelor’s Degree Schools	430

In 2021, 136 students received their master’s degree in education from WCU. This makes it the #323 most popular school for education master’s degree candidates in the country.

There were 16 students who received their doctoral degrees in education, making the school the #243 most popular school in the United States for this category of students.

Education Student Demographics at WCU

Take a look at the following statistics related to the make-up of the education majors at Western Carolina University.

WCU Education Bachelor’s Program

The education program at WCU awarded 184 bachelor's degrees in 2020-2021. About 16% of these degrees went to men with the other 84% going to women.

About 90% of those who receive a bachelor's degree in education at WCU are white. This is above average for this degree on the nationwide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor's in education.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	7
Hispanic or Latino	3
White	165
International Students	0
Other Races/Ethnicities	8

WCU Education Master’s Program

Of the 136 students who graduated with a master’s in education from WCU in 2021, 17% were men and 83% were women.

Of the students who received a education master's degree from WCU, 74% were white. This is above average for this degree on the natiowide level.

The following table and chart show the race/ethnicity for students who recently graduated from Western Carolina University with a master's in education.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Students
Asian	1
Black or African American	8
Hispanic or Latino	7
White	100
International Students	14
Other Races/Ethnicities	6

WCU also has a doctoral program available in education. In 2021, 16 students graduated with a doctor's degree in this field.

Concentrations Within Education

Education majors may want to concentrate their studies in one of these areas. The completion numbers here include all graduates who receive any type of degree in this field from Western Carolina University. Some of these focus areas may not be available for your degree level.

Concentration	Annual Degrees Awarded
Teacher Education Grade Specific	127
Educational Administration	66
Teacher Education Subject Specific	57
General Education	41
Student Counseling	39
Special Education	21

Related Majors

• Area, Ethnic, Culture, & Gender Studies
• History
• Communication & Journalism
• Social Sciences
• Psychology

Careers That Education Grads May Go Into

A degree in education can lead to the following careers. Since job numbers and average salaries can vary by geographic location, we have only included the numbers for NC, the home state for Western Carolina University.

Occupation	Jobs in NC	Average Salary in NC
Elementary School Teachers	40,830	$46,500
Teacher Assistants	31,090	$23,960
High School Teachers	25,240	$47,580
Middle School Teachers	18,640	$47,050
Preschool Teachers	16,110	$28,260

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
• O*NET Online

More about our data sources and methodologies.