Admissions & acceptance rate
First-time freshman admissions: how selective the college is, and how many admitted students choose to enroll.
Graduation rate & outcomes
Completion, retention, and the equity gap between Pell and non-Pell students.
Pell equity
Non-Pell students graduate at a 8.3-point higher rate than Pell recipients.
Source: IPEDS Graduation Rates (GR) — Pell/SSL cohort, 2024 cohort.
Program outcomes
Federal Program Performance Data: how each program's graduate earnings and debt measure up under Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment.
Of 101 Title IV programs, 60 pass the federal Gainful Employment test and 0 fail. 41 have graduate earnings too small to publish, so they carry no pass/fail verdict.
Pass / fail distribution
- Passing60 · 59.4%
- No Data41 · 40.6%
- Failing0 · 0.0%
Severity spectrum
Tiers band programs by how far graduate earnings sit above or below the benchmark, from Critical (below −15%) through Safe (above +25%). No data means earnings were privacy-suppressed.
Earnings premium gap
Graduate earnings versus the federal benchmark, worst gaps first.
Near the line (±5%)
Programs within five points of the pass line, one cohort year from flipping.
Debt vs earnings
Median completer debt against median graduate earnings, highest burden first.
Accreditation status & history
Who accredits the institution, current standing, and any past actions.
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Programmatic accreditations · 14
Action history · 25
- Nov 2025Renewal of AccreditationAmerican Physical Therapy Association, Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education · Physical Therapy (PT) - Professional programs for the physical therapist
- Oct 2025Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jan 2024Approved for Distance EducationAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics · Dietetics (DIETI) - Dietetic Internship
- Dec 2023Grant Substantive Change: ProgramSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
- Jun 2023Heightened Monitoring or Focused ReviewSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
Tuition & cost
What families actually pay, broken down by family income.
Net price by family income
Negative values mean aid exceeds the published cost of attendance for that income band.
Federal aid volume & trends
Pell grants and federal Direct Loan volume disbursed to students, and how they've trended.
In AY 2024–25, 4,302 students received $24.6M in Pell grants, alongside $46.0M in federal Direct Loans.
Pell recipients · 5-year trend
Loan volume by type · AY 2024–25
Loan awards count each loan type a student holds, not unique borrowers; one student may carry several (e.g. subsidized and unsubsidized), so the per-type figures are the reliable detail.
Student loan default rate
The share of student borrowers who default on federal loans within three years, against the national benchmark.
Of 2,729 borrowers who entered repayment, 65 (2.3%) defaulted within three years.
Default rate vs national, by cohort
* Cohorts 2020 and later read near 0% because the federal COVID-19 payment pause (CARES Act) suspended defaults nationwide. These years reflect a national policy, not institutional performance; the 2019 cohort is the last measured under normal repayment.
Academic programs at Western Carolina
Top program areas ranked by completions.
Top program families by completions
Enrollment trends & demographics
Fall headcount, 12-month unduplicated enrollment, and student body composition.
Gender split
Race / ethnicity composition
Athletics & Title IX gender equity
How athletic participation, aid, and spending are split between men and women.
Men vs women · spending splits
Sport-by-sport · 9
Campus safety & crime statistics
Reported on-campus crimes over the last three years, including violence and hate crimes.
3-year trend
Criminal offenses by type
By location
- On campus38
Includes 18 in residence halls (a subset of on-campus, not added to the total).
VAWA offenses
Hate crimes by bias
No hate crimes reported.
Arrests vs disciplinary referrals
Residence-hall fires
- Shining Rock2 firesCookingDamage $100-$999
- Shining Rock2 firesArsonDamage $0-$99
Data quality: 4 reports were later determined unfounded across the reporting period and are excluded from the totals above.
Student-faculty ratio
Student-to-faculty ratio and instructional staff counts.
Western Carolina vs Peer comparison
The peer institutions Western Carolina selected for federal comparison reporting.
A larger shape on any axis means this institution outperforms its peers on that dimension. For acceptance rate and net price, lower raw values are inverted so "more selective" and "more affordable" appear larger.
| Carnegie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SubjectWestern Carolina University | 60% | — | 11,686 | $13,315 | Doctoral/Professional |
| 47% | 78.3% | 4,782 | $13,479 | Doctoral/Professional | |
| 50% | 81.1% | 11,775 | $14,265 | Doctoral/Professional | |
| 42% | 72.3% | 10,262 | $10,945 | Doctoral/Professional | |
| 43% | 51.6% | 14,337 | $12,786 | Doctoral/Professional | |
| 53% | 89.5% | 10,112 | $16,511 | Doctoral/Professional | |
| Peer group median | 49% | 78.3% | 10,974 | $13,397 |
Institutions like Western Carolina
Explore the federal data for institutions in Western Carolina's comparison group.
- Doctoral/ProfessionalNorth Carolina
Winston-Salem State University
Grad rate47%Admit rate78.3%Enrollment4,782Net price$13,479View data - Doctoral/ProfessionalTennessee
The University of Tennessee-Chattanooga
Grad rate50%Admit rate81.1%Enrollment11,775Net price$14,265View data - Doctoral/ProfessionalGeorgia
Valdosta State University
Grad rate42%Admit rate72.3%Enrollment10,262Net price$10,945View data - Doctoral/ProfessionalGeorgia
University of West Georgia
Grad rate43%Admit rate51.6%Enrollment14,337Net price$12,786View data - Doctoral/ProfessionalArkansas
University of Central Arkansas
Grad rate53%Admit rate89.5%Enrollment10,112Net price$16,511View data
Western Carolina Institutional Research office
The IR team responsible for the institution's federal reporting.
Fact Books provide a summary of information that can be utilized by internal and external constituents and are designed to serve as a comprehensive, main reference source to obtain various institutional data.
Visit IR office pageCommon Data Set
Western Carolina's own annual Common Data Set: the most detailed self-reported reference for selectivity, cost, outcomes, and the student body.
Selectivity & Admissions
Admissions funnel
C119,234 applied → 16,014 admitted (83.3%) → 2,118 enrolled.
Selectivity
C1Accessible — 83.3% acceptance rate.
Admit rate by gender
C1Admit rate varies by gender.
SAT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% SAT 1055–1240 (median 1150).
ACT range (middle 50%)
C9Middle 50% ACT 20–26 (median 23).
High-school class rank
C10Share of enrolled first-years by HS class-rank band.
What matters in admission
C7Relative importance of each admission factor.
Affordability & Value
Where grant aid comes from
H10% of need-based grant dollars come from the institution itself.
Graduate debt
H4/H561% of graduates borrowed; those who did owed $28,662 on average.
Academic Experience
Class-size distribution
I334% of classes have under 20 students; 1% have 50+.
Faculty profile
IKey faculty indicators.
Degrees by discipline
JSTEM-dominant: ~13% of bachelor's degrees are in computing, engineering, math & sciences.
Transfer Path
Transfer admissions
D12,747 transfer applicants → 1,952 admitted (71.1%) → 1,056 enrolled — more selective than first-year admission.
Source publications
Frequently asked questions about Western Carolina University
Quick answers to the questions most often asked about Western Carolina.
What is the graduation rate at Western Carolina University?
How many students attend Western Carolina University?
What is the average net price at Western Carolina University?
What is the yield rate at Western Carolina University?
Where is Western Carolina University located?
Who runs Institutional Research at Western Carolina University?
About the data on this page
Every figure comes from an official federal or public source. Here is each one and the release it is currently on.
Have a question this page can’t answer?
Ask Clema anything about Western Carolina University and its peers — plain language in, cited answers out, in minutes instead of days.
Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card