By the numbers: University rankings and statistics

In September, the U.S. News and World Report released the 2025 Best Colleges rankings in anticipation for applicants in that year's admissions cycle. UNC was ranked No. 5 among public universities and tied for No. 27 across the country. 

This is the 23rd year UNC has been one of the top five public schools in the U.S. with the University’s ranking dropping from 22nd nationally last year. 

Some undergraduate programs offered by the University are ranked higher than others, with UNC ranked No. 4 for nursing, No. 6 for business and No. 1 for pharmacy.

In the Fall 2023 semester, the UNC Office of Institutional Research and Assessment reported 17,808 undergraduates within the College of Arts and Sciences, making it the most popular school at UNC. For the Fall 2024 semester, that number dropped to 17,559 students. 

Ian McNeely, senior associate dean for undergraduate education, wrote in an email to The Daily Tar Heel that the median grade-point average for a UNC undergraduate in Spring 2024 was 3.59. 

Across all departments and major-specific tracks in the College of Arts and Sciences, McNeely wrote that the major with the highest median GPA was biostatistics, followed by classics. He wrote that those numbers represent their grades in all the courses they have taken, not just their major-specific requirements. 

“This could mean a number of things,” McNeely wrote. “Those students could be academically more accomplished (on average) than other undergraduates. Or they could tend to take courses that are more generously graded than the average course. Or it could be some combination of the two.”

Since January, University researchers have brought in $1.21 billion in research awards, funding the discoveries in the University’s research centers. Media Relations Manager Gabriella Neyman wrote in an email to The DTH that the 7,839 academic papers published since then land UNC in the twelfth spot nationally for research by volume.

Beyond rankings and financial success in University operations, UNC gathers data on the services it provides for its student body. 

“There's just so many students using all the services that the University has to offer that with so many students, the only way to make things work properly, and work better and improve how they function, is looking at statistics related to how students use them,” David Hix, a sophomore studying statistics, said.

Tori Hooker, associate director of programs at Campus Recreation, said Campus Recreation gathers data to address problems such as crowdedness in facilities.

According to an email from Campus Recreation to The DTH, the Student Recreation Center saw an average of 1,650 users daily in fall 2024, approximately 60 percent more than Rams Head Recreation Center. 

“Part of that is just proximity, though," Hooker said. "People are more likely to use the SRC because it's more central to campus.” 

Students also remain active outside gym facilities, with thousands participating in almost 500 intramural teams or 50 Club teams, Campus Recreation wrote.

Neyman wrote that since January 2024, Campus Health and Counseling and Psychological Services have had a combined 74,000 visits from 75 percent of UNC students. 

According to the University’s common data set, 20,880 undergraduates were enrolled in the University during the 2023-24 academic year. U.S. News found the undergraduate student population to be 60.6 percent female and 39.4 percent male. Of the undergraduate population, the University reports that 6.16 percent are international students.

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