Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC
Western Carolina University is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina, a town 10 to 35 miles from a city, with 10,024 undergraduates. Health professions and education are its signature fields: together they make up 28% of its bachelor's degrees, about twice their share across the colleges we cover. 60% of students finish within six years, and former students who are working earn a median of $49,458 ten years after starting.
Western Carolina University admitted 16,138 of 19,728 applicants for the fall 2024 entering class (81.8%).
- Acceptance rate
- 81.8%
- Fall 2024 class
- In-state tuition
- $4,630
- $8,630 out of state
- Paid after aid
- $13,315
- Average, students with aid
- SAT, middle 50%
- 1075–1260
Every figure on this page is published by the college or a federal survey, compiled by GoodGoblin, and carries the source it came from. They describe the fall 2024 entering class, a read on the school, not a prediction about any one applicant.
What Western Carolina University is known for
Measured by the 2,771 bachelor's degrees it awarded in 2022–23, and what its graduates went on to earn.
Health professions
18.9%
of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 9.1% share across the colleges we cover.
Education
8.7%
of its bachelor's degrees: about twice the 3.9% share across the colleges we cover.
- Business Administration, Management and Operations2539.1% of degrees$57,713−15% vs $68,257 nationally
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing2388.6% of degrees$79,533−11% vs $88,910 nationally
- Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods1696.1% of degrees$47,105About the $47,382 national median
- Criminal Justice and Corrections1565.6% of degrees$55,903About the $55,378 national median
- Marketing1525.5% of degrees$56,568−18% vs $69,303 nationally
- Psychology1485.3% of degrees$48,350−5% vs $50,706 nationally
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), field-of-study data. Degrees are bachelor's degrees awarded in 2022–23. Earnings are the median for 2017–18 and 2018–19 graduates, in 2024 dollars, working and not enrolled, four years after graduating. Shares across the colleges we cover count every bachelor's degree at the colleges with a page here.
The place
Where it is, how big it is, and how students live.
Setting
Town, 10–35 miles from a city
Cullowhee, NC
Undergraduates
10,024
Fall 2024
Type
Public
Doctoral and professional university
Living on campus
A quarter to half
of undergraduates live on campus
Students per faculty member
16 to 1
Fall 2024
International students
2%
of undergraduates, fall 2024
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education), including the Carnegie Classification and the federal locale code it publishes.
What stands out at Western Carolina University
Two things Western Carolina University published, ranked by how much each could change what you actually do, not by how impressive it looks. Every one describes a class that has already enrolled.
6% of the enrolled class sent an SAT.
The SAT band on this page describes that share of the class, not all of it. Another 19% sent an ACT. Western Carolina University files test scores under “considered”.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Families paid $13,315 on average after aid.
Averaged across students who received federal aid: the price after grants and scholarships, not the sticker price.
Source: the College Scorecard
Every figure, in full
The same measured fields on every one of these pages. Nothing is filled in where the school published nothing.
Acceptance rate
81.8%
16,138 admitted of 19,728 applicants
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
SAT, middle 50%
1075–1260
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
ACT, middle 50%
19–25
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Average GPA of admitted students
3.43
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Enrolled students who sent an SAT
6%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Enrolled students who sent an ACT
19%
Counted per test: a student may send both.
Source: their Common Data Set, fall 2024
Where do you actually stand at Western Carolina University?
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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What Western Carolina University costs
The published price first, then what students who received aid actually paid, by family income.
In-state tuition and fees for 2024–25 were $4,630 ($8,630 out of state), and the full in-state cost of attendance, with housing, food and books, was $19,992. After grants and scholarships, students who received financial aid paid $13,315 a year on average.
In-state tuition and fees
$4,630
2024–25 school year
Out-of-state tuition and fees
$8,630
2024–25 school year
Full cost, in state
$19,992
Tuition, fees, housing, food and books
Paid after aid
$13,315
Average, students who received aid
What students paid, by family income
Each bar is that figure as a share of the $19,992 full cost.
- Under $30k$8,816Typical public university: $10,013
- $30k–$48k$10,012Typical public university: $10,847
- $48k–$75k$12,605Typical public university: $13,703
- $75k–$110k$17,060Typical public university: $17,979
- Over $110k$17,992Typical public university: $22,475
Source: the federal College Scorecard. Tuition and cost of attendance are for the 2024–25 school year; colleges usually raise them each year. What students paid is the average net price for first-year students who received federal financial aid. Typical public university: the median across the 338 public universities on GoodGoblin, for in-state students, compiled by GoodGoblin from the same federal data.
Where it leads
Who finishes, who stays, and what they earn and owe afterwards.
Finish within six years
60%
Our colleges' median: 63%
Return for a second year
79%
Our colleges' median: 79%
Earnings after 10 years
$49,458
Our colleges' median: $57,440
Median debt at graduation
$21,868
Our colleges' median: $23,725
Source: the College Scorecard (U.S. Department of Education). Six-year completion describes students who started in fall 2018; second-year return describes students who started in fall 2023; earnings describe students who started in 2009–10 and 2010–11, measured in 2020 and 2021, in 2022 dollars; debt describes federal loans of students who graduated in fiscal years 2020 and 2021. Medians are across the 1,034 colleges with a page here.
How the rate has moved
Two measured admit rates from the federal survey, the years apart it reports them. A rate that moved, not a forecast.
Over 5 years the admit rate rose from 40% to 87%.
What Western Carolina University says it weighs
The school's own words, from the form it fills in every year. Ranked as it ranks them.
- Course rigorrequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- GPArequired
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Essayconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Test scoresconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Recommendationsconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
- Class rankconsidered
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Not considered
- Legacy
Source: the federal IPEDS survey, fall 2023
Published deadlines
Each date is read from the college's own materials and re-checked on a schedule.
More colleges on the record
Each of these pages carries the same measured figures and sources.
Other colleges in North Carolina
Closest acceptance rates in the same state.
Colleges with a similar acceptance rate
Closest acceptance rates anywhere in the country.
The GoodGoblin College Data Report: five findings counted across 1,034 colleges ›
Build the list this school belongs on.
The figures on this page describe a class that already enrolled. GoodGoblin reads them against your own transcript, scores, activities and budget, then builds the balanced list, the essay plan and the deadline calendar around what it finds.
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