Carolina welcomes 5,624 new students this fall

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill welcomed 4,641 first-year students and 983 transfer students as the entering class of 2024. Students were selected from a record 73,192 total applicants, a 15.8% increase from 63,217 applicants in 2023. First-year applications have increased 32% in the last five years.

Students come from 95 North Carolina counties, all 50 states and the District of Columbia and 79 countries around the world. The enrolling first-year and transfer class includes 4,608 students from North Carolina and 1,016 out-of-state and international students.

The incoming first-year class includes 211 students from one of the 82 partner high schools served by the Carolina College Advising Corps, a public service of the University that seeks to increase college-going rates among low-income, first-generation college and other underrepresented students.

Meet the incoming class

All data points are verified as of Sept. 4, the University's official enrollment reporting date

Transfer admissions

56% of the enrolling in-state transfer class is transferring from a community college in North Carolina. The transfer class includes 104 students who come to Carolina from partner community colleges served by the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program. C-STEP is designed to enable community college students to transfer to and graduate from Carolina and partners with 14 community colleges across the state.

Academic strength

• 4% of the incoming class ranked in the top 10% of their high school class
• 3% ranked in the top 20% of their high school class
• 2% of incoming first-year students received dual enrollment credit for at least one course and 38.3% received credit for at least 5 courses
• On the SAT, the middle 50% of incoming first-year students scored between 1390 and 1520
• On the ACT, the middle 50% of incoming first-year students scored between 29 and 34

North Carolinians

Among the 4,608 students from North Carolina, 35.8% come from a rural county.

First in their families

• 4% of all incoming students will be the first in their families to graduate from college

Financial aid

Among all incoming students:

Extracurricular snapshot

• 3% participated in community service
• 3% competed in a sport
• 3% of all incoming students held a paying job during the school year
• 76% contributed to a cause they believe in
• 3% participated in student government
• 5% participated in the arts, music, dance, theatre or drama

These students are the first to be admitted to Carolina since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June 2023 that eliminated the consideration of race in admissions decisions. The University joins others across the nation in gathering data for the first time since the ruling.

"It's too soon to see trends with just one year of data," said Rachelle Feldman, vice provost for enrollment. "We are committed to following the new law. We are also committed to making sure students in all 100 counties from every population in our growing state feel encouraged to apply, have confidence in our affordability and know this is a place they feel welcome and can succeed."

Below is a chart of entering first-year and transfer students between fall 2024 and fall 2023 showing how they identify.

How Students Identify	Fall 2024	Fall 2023
American Indian or Alaska Native	1.1%	1.6%
Asian or Asian American	25.8%	24.8%
Black or African American	7.8%	10.5%
Hispanic, Latino, or Latina	10.1%	10.8%
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.3%	0.2%
White or Caucasian	63.8%	63.7%

Like other universities, the U.S. Department of Education's challenges and delays in the FAFSA application process may have had an impact on Carolina's incoming class. Many students may not have had the information they needed about their eligibility for financial aid until very late in the admissions cycle. The University does not know the extent those issues had on its applicant pool.

UNC-Chapel Hill is one of the few public flagship campuses to both practice need-blind admissions and make the promise of a Carolina education possible for all students who earn admission regardless of their financial means. The University has long been one of the only public universities to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all undergraduates who qualify to receive federal financial aid.

For more information, visit the Office of Undergraduate Admissions website.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.