University of North Carolina

Founded in 1789, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (at the time called the University of North Carolina) is one of three schools to claim the title of oldest public university in the United States. It closed from 1871 to 1875, faced with serious financial and enrollment problems during the Reconstruction era. In 1877, the state of North Carolina began sponsoring additional higher education institutions. Over time, the state added a women's college (now known as the University of North Carolina at Greensboro), a land-grant university (North Carolina State University), five historically black institutions (North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina Central University, Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, and Elizabeth City State University) and one to educate American Indians (the University of North Carolina at Pembroke). Others were created to prepare teachers for public education and to instruct performing artists.

During the Great Depression, the North Carolina General Assembly searched for cost savings within state government. Towards this effort in 1931, it redefined the University of North Carolina, which at the time referred exclusively to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; the new Consolidated University of North Carolina was created to include the existing campuses of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State College (now North Carolina State University), and the Woman's College (now the University of North Carolina at Greensboro). The three campuses came under the leadership of a single board of trustees and a single president, with "Deans of Administration" serving as day-to-day leaders of the three campuses. In 1945, the title "Dean of Administration" was changed to "Chancellor." By 1969, three additional campuses had joined the Consolidated University through legislative action: the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

In 1971, North Carolina passed legislation bringing into the University of North Carolina all 16 public institutions that confer bachelor's degrees. This latest round of consolidation gave each constituent school its own chancellor and board of trustees. In 1985, the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the nation's first public residential high school for gifted students, was declared an affiliated school of the university. In 2007, the high school became a full member of the university.

In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UNC System shut down in-person instruction at all of its campuses indefinitely. In an unprecedented move to limit the spread of the disease, institutions were asked to remove as many students from on-campus housing as possible, implement remote work wherever practical, and to transition to distance education.[7]

Original seal of the University of North Carolina c. 1791.

An asterisk (*) denotes acting president. Two asterisks (**) denotes chairman of the faculty.

The enrollment numbers are the official headcounts (including all full-time and part-time, undergrad and postgrad students) from University of North Carolina website.[51] This does not include the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, the figure for NCSSM is taken from its own website.[52]

The following universities became four-year institutions after their founding (date each became a four-year institution in parentheses):

• East Carolina University (1920)
• North Carolina Central University (1925)
• Winston-Salem State University (1925)
• Western Carolina University (1929)
• Appalachian State University (1929)
• Elizabeth City State University (1937)
• University of North Carolina at Pembroke (1939)
• Fayetteville State University (1939)
• University of North Carolina at Asheville (1963)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1963)
• University of North Carolina at Wilmington (1963)

With the exception of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, the institutions that joined the University of North Carolina in 1972 did so under their current name. As of 1972, all public four-year institutions in North Carolina are members of the university.