by our College Data Analytics TeamWestern Carolina University is a public institution in Cullowhee, North Carolina enrolling 10,024 undergraduates. It accepts 82% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 60%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #821 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 16%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
Western Carolina University ranks #821 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 16%.
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.
Western Carolina University was awarded 164 badges in the 2027 rankings.
College Factual ranked Western as #821 out of 5,159 colleges and universities in the country on its 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 20% of all schools in the nation.
Western is also ranked #13 on the Best Colleges in North Carolina list.
See all of the rankings for Western Carolina University.
The acceptance rate at Western Carolina University is 82%. That’s higher than the rate at many schools, but still low enough to be considered somewhat selective. If you want to get in, you’ll need good grades and to be able to show that Western is a good fit for you.
About 5% of students accepted to Western submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 560 and 660. Math scores were between 520 and 610.
Western received ACT scores from 19% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 19 and 25.
Learn more about Western Carolina University admissions.
With a student to faculty ratio of 16 to 1, Western Carolina University is about average in this regard as the nationwide rate is 15 to 1. While this does not translate directly to class size, it’s a good indicator of how much time professors will have to spend with their students on a one-on-one basis.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at Western Carolina University is 74%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 79% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Western Carolina University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
The on-time graduation rate for someone pursuing a bachelor’s degree is typically four years. This rate at Western for first-time, full-time students is 60%, which is better than the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Western Carolina University.
The current enrollment includes 10,024 undergraduates at Western.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at Western Carolina University.
The overall average net price of Western is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $8,816 | $10,012 | $12,605 | $17,060 | $17,992 |
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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Western, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At Western, approximately 44% of students took out student loans averaging $5,618 a year. That adds up to $22,472 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 6.9%. 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. Get more details about paying for Western Carolina University.
Yearly salaries vary depending on what you major in, but on average, bachelor’s degree recipients from Western Carolina University make around $49,458 per year during the early years of their employment. This is right on par with the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year. Also, graduates in your major field may make more.
See which majors at Western Carolina University make the most money.
Western Carolina University is an public institution situated in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The surrounding location of Cullowhee is ideal for students who enjoy the charms of a college town. Get more details about the location of Western Carolina University.
Get in touch with Western Carolina University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | Highway 107, Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646 |
| Phone: | 8282277100 |
| Website: | www.wcu.edu |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/WesternCarolinaUniversity |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/WCU |
In the latest year of available data, students from 24 majors graduated from Western Carolina University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 3,284 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 361 | $38,481 |
| Nursing | 344 | $59,776 |
| General Psychology | 161 | $23,472 |
| Marketing | 152 | $33,207 |
| Public Administration | 145 | $54,114 |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 129 | $35,154 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 122 | $34,526 |
| Health Sciences & Services | 102 | NA |
| Social Work | 96 | $37,848 |
4,882 students took at least one online class at Western Carolina University.
Online courses are 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.
Learn more about online learning at Western Carolina University.
Interested in comparing Western? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free tool for head-to-head college comparisons.
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.