How hard is it to get into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? The answer depends almost entirely on one fact an applicant cannot change: which state they call home. For the Fall 2025 entering class, North Carolina residents were admitted at 37 percent while out-of-state applicants faced a rate closer to 9 percent. Two students with identical transcripts, one from Charlotte and one from Chicago, are not applying to the same university in any meaningful sense.
That split is not an accident of a given year. It is written into state policy. The UNC System caps out-of-state students at 18 percent of each entering first-year class at Chapel Hill, which forces the admissions office to fill roughly four of every five seats with North Carolinians. Every other number in the file, the overall admit rate, the yield, the test profile, the demographic mix, reads differently once residency is accounted for. A national headline rate in the mid-teens describes a school that is comfortably within reach for a strong in-state student and a genuine reach, comparable to a selective private university, for everyone else.
This report covers five entering classes, Fall 2021 through Fall 2025, drawn from UNC’s Common Data Set filings. It walks through the application surge and the residency divide, the testing policy and what the published admission factors reward, the demographic shifts in the first classes admitted after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in a case that carried UNC’s own name, the internal competition among its schools and majors, and the cost and aid picture that makes in-state Carolina one of the best values in the country. It closes with what the record suggests for applicants.
Application volume and selectivity
UNC received 76,247 first-year applications for Fall 2025, up from 53,776 four years earlier, a 42 percent increase. Unlike most flagships absorbing that kind of growth, UNC responded by enlarging the class. After holding near 4,400 to 4,700 for years, the entering class jumped to about 5,091 in Fall 2025, and admit offers rose with it, to 12,751. The overall admit rate has bounced within a narrow band, between roughly 15 and 19 percent, rather than falling in a straight line.
| Metric | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
| Applications | 53,776 | 57,221 | 57,902 | 66,535 | 76,247 |
| Admits | 10,347 | 9,640 | 10,852 | 10,209 | 12,751 |
| Admit rate | 19.2% | 16.8% | 18.7% | 15.3% | 16.7% |
| Enrolled | 4,689 | 4,425 | 4,699 | 4,632 | 5,091 |
| Yield | 45.3% | 45.9% | 43.3% | 45.4% | 39.9% |
Source: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C1, Fall 2021 through Fall 2025. Admit rate = admits divided by applications. Yield = enrolled divided by admits.
Applications and overall admit rate, Fall 2021 to Fall 2025. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C1.
Two features stand out. The admit rate is volatile rather than steadily declining because UNC has adjusted the size of its offer pool year to year, expanding it sharply for Fall 2025 to seat a larger class. That expansion is the more consequential change. The Fall 2025 class of roughly 5,091 is about 8 percent larger than any in the prior four years, and the extra offers pushed yield down to 39.9 percent from a steady mid-40s, since a bigger admitted pool converts at a lower rate. The waiting list moved in the same direction. UNC admitted 2,099 students from its waitlist for Fall 2025, against just 36 two years earlier, a sign that the office leaned heavily on the list to build the larger class.
The two-rate reality
UNC’s overall admit rate is close to meaningless for an individual applicant. Because state policy requires roughly 82 percent of the class to be North Carolinians, residents and nonresidents move through two separate competitions with very different odds.
| Admit rate by residency | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
| In-state | 41.2% | 38.0% | 37.0% |
| Out-of-state (incl. international) | 10.7% | 7.8% | 10.5% |
Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C1 residency detail, Fall 2023 through Fall 2025. Out-of-state includes international applicants.
Admit rate by residency, Fall 2023 to Fall 2025. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C1.
The gap is roughly four to one. In Fall 2025, North Carolina residents applied at 17,846 and were admitted at 37 percent; out-of-state applicants applied at 48,645 and were admitted at under 10 percent. On the enrolled side, in-state students made up about 80 percent of the class, with domestic out-of-state students near 14 percent and international students about 6 percent. For a North Carolina student with strong grades and rigorous coursework, UNC is a selective but realistic target. For an out-of-state applicant, the bar sits higher than the national figure implies, because the seats available are capped by law and the competition for them is fierce. Out-of-state applicants should build a college list that treats Carolina as a reach.
Testing: optional, with a floor
UNC has been test-optional since the pandemic, but with a wrinkle that sets it apart. The UNC System waived the SAT and ACT requirement for the Fall 2022, 2023, and 2024 cycles. Beginning with Fall 2025, the System reinstated a minimum-qualification rule: applicants with a weighted high school GPA below 2.8 must submit a test score, while everyone above that line may apply without one. Scores that are submitted are considered as one factor among many in a holistic read.
| Metric (enrolled first-years) | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
| Submitting SAT | 24% | 29% | 28% | 28% |
| Submitting ACT | 32% | 34% | 41% | 41% |
| SAT 25th-75th | 1360-1510 | 1380-1520 | 1400-1530 | 1400-1530 |
| ACT 25th-75th | 29-33 | 30-34 | 29-34 | 29-34 |
Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C9, Fall 2022 through Fall 2025. Some students submit both tests, so the two rates sum above the share submitting any score.
Share of enrolled first-years submitting SAT and ACT scores, Fall 2022 to Fall 2025. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section C9.
Two patterns are worth noting. About two-thirds to 69 percent of enrolled students now submit a score, a share that has climbed as the policy settled, and the ACT is the more common test at UNC, a reflection of its strength across the South. The submitted middle 50 percent, roughly 1400 to 1530 on the SAT and 29 to 34 on the ACT, describes a self-selected group of submitters and runs high. The academic profile behind it is compressed at the top: 94.6 percent of enrolled first-years reported a 4.0 weighted GPA, and the average weighted GPA was 4.47. A strong score helps, and a score is required for applicants below the GPA floor, but the transcript is doing most of the work.
What the file has to show: the C7 factors
Section C7 of the Common Data Set records what UNC says it weighs. The 2025-26 filing rates seven factors as very important: rigor of the secondary school record, the application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, talent or ability, character and personal qualities, and state residency. Class rank and academic GPA are rated important, a notch below rigor. Test scores, first-generation status, and alumni relation are considered. Interviews, geographic residence, religious affiliation, and level of applicant’s interest are not considered.
Two entries deserve emphasis. State residency sitting in the very important column is UNC putting the 82 percent rule in writing: where an applicant lives is a central term in the decision, not a tiebreaker. And the weight placed on essays, recommendations, activities, talent, and character, all rated very important alongside rigor, signals a whole-file read in which the qualitative pieces carry real weight. UNC does not interview and does not track demonstrated interest, so campus visits and contact with the office do not move a decision. The application is the case.
One factor disappeared from that grid during this window. Through the 2022-23 filing, UNC listed racial or ethnic status as a considered factor. The 2023-24 filing removed it, consistent with the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision. That decision came in a case bearing UNC’s own name.
Who enrolls: the first post-SFFA classes
In June 2023 the Supreme Court ruled in Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, decided alongside the Harvard case, that race-conscious admissions violated the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. UNC was not a bystander to the national shift; it was the public university at the center of it. Its Fall 2024 class was the first assembled under the new rule, and the enrollment data show a clear effect.
| First-year share | Fall 2021 | Fall 2022 | Fall 2023 | Fall 2024 | Fall 2025 |
| White | 53.7% | 55.0% | 52.2% | 52.8% | 51.4% |
| Asian | 13.5% | 16.4% | 16.2% | 18.5% | 18.7% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.3% | 8.4% | 10.0% | 8.8% | 9.5% |
| Black/African American | 8.9% | 7.9% | 7.9% | 5.3% | 4.9% |
| Two or more races | 5.6% | 4.9% | 5.6% | 4.7% | 5.3% |
| International | 6.1% | 4.5% | 5.5% | 5.9% | 5.9% |
Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section B2, first-time first-year cohort. Under federal reporting guidelines, Hispanic, multiracial, and international students are counted separately rather than within a single race.
Black, Hispanic, and Asian share of first-year class, Fall 2021 to Fall 2025. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section B2.
The Black share of the entering class is the clearest signal. It held near 8 to 9 percent through the last three pre-ruling classes, then fell to 5.3 percent in Fall 2024 and 4.9 percent in Fall 2025, roughly a four-point drop across the transition. The Hispanic share moved within a narrow 8 to 10 percent band and did not show the same break. The Asian share rose over the period, from 13.5 percent to 18.7 percent, and the White share drifted down slightly. UNC, like many public universities after the ruling, added an essay prompt inviting applicants to describe how their experiences, including experiences of race, shaped them, but the aggregate effect on Black enrollment has been marked. For applicants from underrepresented backgrounds, the takeaway is not that UNC has become unwelcoming; its aid commitments and support programs remain in place. The data argue for applying while building a broad list.
Where the competition actually lives
UNC admits first-year students to the College of Arts and Sciences, and most of the competition among fields happens after enrollment rather than at the front door. The mix of degrees conferred shows where students land.
Share of bachelor’s degrees by field, 2024-25. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Set, Section J.
Social sciences, the largest category at about 16 percent of degrees, carries economics, political science, and public policy. Biology and the life sciences follow near 13 percent, feeding one of the strongest pre-health pipelines in the country. Communication and journalism, anchored by the Hussman School, and computer and information sciences each account for about 8 percent, and business and marketing another 7.5 percent.
Business is the case that most shapes strategy, and UNC handles it differently from many flagships. The Kenan-Flagler Business School, ranked among the top undergraduate business programs in the country, admits most of its majors through Assured Enrollment, a path offered to high school applicants at the point of admission to UNC. About 70 percent of business students arrive this way, begin in the College of Arts and Sciences, and start the business core in their second year. The rest apply as current UNC students after a year in the College, or transfer in as juniors, through a selective internal review. A student set on business should understand both routes and aim for Assured Enrollment out of high school, since the internal path is competitive.
Computer science has become one of the most in-demand majors and raises the effective bar for applicants who signal it. UNC has historically had no large engineering school, ceding that ground within the state, though it has been expanding applied sciences and launched a School of Data Science and Society in 2022. Nursing admits a smaller, direct cohort with its own requirements. As with business, the practical point is that the named interest on the application, and the plan behind it, can matter more than the overall admit rate suggests.
Cost, aid, and the in-state bargain
UNC’s published costs separate more sharply by residency than almost any peer, because North Carolina has held in-state tuition essentially flat for close to a decade. In-state tuition sat at $7,020 for years and ticks to $7,230 for 2026-27; with about $2,129 in required fees, in-state tuition and fees run near $9,359. Out-of-state tuition, by contrast, has climbed steadily, from $35,580 in 2022-23 to $47,472 for 2026-27, or about $49,600 with fees. Food and housing add roughly $15,870.
In-state and out-of-state tuition, 2022-23 to 2026-27. Source: UNC-Chapel Hill Common Data Sets, Section G1.
The result is two very different price tags. A North Carolina resident faces a total cost of attendance near $25,000 before aid, one of the lowest at any top-ranked university in the nation, which is why U.S. News ranks UNC the No. 1 best-value public university. An out-of-state student faces roughly $65,000 to $66,000, closer to private-university territory.
Aid narrows the gap for those who qualify. UNC commits to meeting 100 percent of demonstrated need, by policy and practice, and its Carolina Covenant program covers costs without loans for admitted students from families at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty line, whether they come from inside or outside the state. In the most recent filing, the average need-based grant for first-year students was about $20,900 and the average package about $21,700, with need fully met for aided students. About a quarter of graduates borrow, at an average near $20,400. For a lower-income North Carolinian, Carolina can be close to free; for an out-of-state family, the net price should be checked carefully, since institutional aid is thinner for nonresidents.
Retention and graduation
UNC’s persistence numbers are strong and steady. First-year retention was 96.7 percent for the most recent reported cohort, in line with the 96 to 97 percent range across the window. The six-year graduation rate for the 2019 entering cohort was 91.1 percent, with Pell recipients at 87.7 percent and non-recipients at 92.7 percent, a gap of five points that is modest by national standards. Four-year completion for the same cohort was about 83 percent, meaning most students finish on time. The student-faculty ratio is 15 to 1.
These outcomes, paired with the in-state price, are what put UNC at the top of the value rankings. The university retains and graduates students well across the income range, and its low sticker for residents means those degrees come with relatively little debt.
The picture beyond the CDS
Two threads outside the Common Data Set frame the five-year record. The first is the demand surge already described, which lifted applications more than 40 percent in four years and, combined with the class expansion in Fall 2025, reshaped the shape of the admitted pool. The second is UNC’s standing. In the 2026 U.S. News rankings it placed No. 26 among national universities, tied with the University of Virginia, and No. 4 among public universities, again tied with UVA, while topping the best-value public list. That combination of reputation and low in-state cost keeps demand climbing.
The post-ruling demographic shift is the development most specific to UNC. As the named defendant in the case that ended race-conscious admissions nationwide, Carolina drew close attention to how its first post-decision classes would look, and the drop in Black enrollment from roughly 8 percent to under 5 percent has been the most visible outcome. How the university responds, through recruitment, aid, and outreach, will shape its classes for years, and it sits alongside the state’s testing-floor policy and its tuition freeze as forces acting on admissions from outside the office itself.
What the five-year record means for applicants
Three conclusions carry into application strategy.
First, residency sets the terms. In-state applicants face admit rates near 37 to 41 percent and should treat UNC as a strong, realistic target with a rigorous transcript. Out-of-state and international applicants face rates near 9 to 11 percent, a level set by the 18 percent cap rather than by the strength of any individual file, and should build a list that does not lean on Carolina as a match. The single most important thing an out-of-state applicant can do is present a distinctive, well-developed application, because the qualitative factors UNC rates very important are where a capped pool gets sorted.
Second, the school and major deserve thought even though entry is through the College of Arts and Sciences. Business hopefuls should pursue Assured Enrollment out of high school rather than counting on the internal path, and applicants drawn to computer science, the sciences, or nursing should plan the prerequisites and understand that popular fields carry their own internal competition. Test scores are optional for most, required for applicants below a 2.8 weighted GPA, and worth submitting when they land in or above the enrolled middle 50 percent.
Third, run the numbers before assuming anything about cost. For a North Carolina resident, UNC is among the least expensive top universities in the country and, with the Carolina Covenant, can be free for lower-income families. For an out-of-state family, the sticker approaches private-university levels and institutional aid is limited, so the net price calculator should come out early. The five-year record describes a university growing more sought-after every year while holding its in-state promise intact, which is a rarer balance than the headline admit rate reveals.
