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University of North Carolina at Wilmington Data & Information Overview

205 awards Ranking Badges
Fair Price Value for Your Money
68% Acceptance Rate
Find out more about how University of North Carolina at Wilmington ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below.
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How Well Is University of North Carolina at Wilmington Ranked?

#457 Best Colleges in Nation
#10 Best Colleges in NC
Registered Nursing Highest Ranked Major

2024 Rankings

In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.

University of North Carolina at Wilmington was awarded 205 badges in the 2024 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is registered nursing.

Explore Best Ranked Schools for You

Explore the best ranked schools for the programs you are most interested in.

Overall Quality

According to College Factual's 2024 analysis, UNCW is ranked #457 out of 2,217 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.

UNCW also holds the #10 spot on the Best Colleges in North Carolina ranking.

See all of the rankings for University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Is It Hard to Get Into UNCW?

68% Acceptance Rate
68% Of Accepted Are Women
8% Submit SAT Scores

Acceptance Rate

University of North Carolina at Wilmington has an acceptance rate of 68%, which means the school is serious about who it admits. Take your time in putting together a strong application that highlights why you are a good fit for UNCW.

Average Test Scores

About 8% of students accepted to UNCW submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 610 and 670. Math scores were between 600 and 660.

SAT Reading and Writing Scores for University of North Carolina at Wilmington  ( 610 to 670 )
200
800

SAT Math Scores for University of North Carolina at Wilmington  ( 600 to 660 )
200
800
UNCW received ACT scores from 19% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 24 and 28.

ACT Composite Scores for University of North Carolina at Wilmington  ( 24 to 28 )
1
36

Learn more about University of North Carolina at Wilmington admissions.

University of North Carolina at Wilmington Faculty

16 to 1 Student to Faculty
72% Full Time Teachers

Student to Faculty Ratio

The student to faculty ratio at University of North Carolina at Wilmington is about average at 16 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.

Percent of Full-Time Faculty

When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.

The full-time faculty percentage at University of North Carolina at Wilmington is 72%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.

Full-Time Faculty Percent  72 out of 100
0
100

Retention and Graduation Rates at University of North Carolina at Wilmington

83% Freshmen Retention
56% On-Time Graduation Rate

Freshmen Retention Rate

University of North Carolina at Wilmington has a freshmen retention rate of 83%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.

Freshmen Retention Rate  83 out of 100
0
100

Graduation Rate

The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor's degree is typically four years. This rate at UNCW for first-time, full-time students is 56%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.

On-Time Graduation Rate  56 out of 100
0
100

Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

University of North Carolina at Wilmington Undergraduate Student Diversity

11,989 Full-Time Undergraduates
18.1% Racial-Ethnic Minorities*
62.0% Percent Women

During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 14,650 undergraduates at UNCW with 11,989 being full-time and 2,661 being part-time.

How Much Does University of North Carolina at Wilmington Cost?

$19,136 Net Price
49% Take Out Loans
$31,580 Total Student Loans
The overall average net price of UNCW is $19,136. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.

Net Price by Income Group for UNCW

$0-30 K $30K-48K $48-75 $75-110K $110K +
$11,710 $14,643 $19,195 $22,872 $23,876

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of UNCW, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.

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 UNCW, approximately 49% of students took out student loans averaging $7,895 a year. That adds up to $31,580 over four years for those students.

The student loan default rate at UNCW is 3.1%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.

Get more details about paying for University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

How Much Money Do UNCW Graduates Make?

$49,739 Avg Salary of Grads
High Earnings Boost
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from UNCW make about $49,739 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future UNCW graduates since it is 17% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.

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See which majors at University of North Carolina at Wilmington make the most money.

Location of University of North Carolina at Wilmington

North Carolina State
11,989 Full-Time Undergraduates
Midsize City Campus Setting
Located in Wilmington, North Carolina, University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a public institution. The city atmosphere of Wilmington makes it a great place for students who enjoy having lots of educational and entertainment options.

Get more details about the location of University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

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Contact details for UNCW are given below.

Contact Details
Address: 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403-5963
Phone: 910-962-3000
Website: www.uncw.edu/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wilmington-NC/UNCW/8357990919
Twitter: http://twitter.com/uncwilmington

University of North Carolina at Wilmington Majors

58 Majors With Completions
4,021 Undergraduate Degrees
1,171 Graduate Degrees
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 58 majors graduated from University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Of these students, 4,021 received undergraduate degrees and 1,171 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.

Most Popular Majors Bachelor’s Degrees Average Salary of Graduates
Nursing 782 $63,331
Business Administration & Management 689 $39,700
General Psychology 245 $25,602
Communication & Media Studies 210 $29,926
General Biology 193 $31,283
Health & Physical Education 181 NA
Teacher Education Grade Specific 165 $36,429
Public Health 156 $29,370
Criminology 111 $27,209
Natural Resources Conservation 102 $26,261

Learn more about the majors offered at University of North Carolina at Wilmington along with which ones have the highest average starting salaries.

Online Learning at UNCW

75% Take At Least One Class Online
27% Take All Classes Online

Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.

In 2020-2021, 13,440 students took at least one online class at University of North Carolina at Wilmington. This is a decrease from the 17,032 students who took online classes the previous year.

Year Took at Least One Online Class Took All Classes Online
2020-2021 13,440 4,857
2019-2020 17,032 6,269
2018-2019 8,500 3,540
2017-2018 7,833 3,040
2016-2017 7,146 2,540

Learn more about online learning at University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

If you’re considering University of North Carolina at Wilmington, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.

Curious on how these schools stack up against UNCW? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!

Notes and References

Footnotes

*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.

References

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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