by our College Data Analytics TeamIn its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Western Carolina University was awarded 130 badges in the 2025 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is criminal justice & corrections.
Explore the best ranked schools for the programs you are most interested in.
According to College Factual's 2025 analysis, WCU is ranked #1,125 out of 2,152 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality.
Out of the 93 colleges in North Carolina, WCU is ranked at #36.
When it comes to admittance, Western Carolina University is somewhat selective. Its acceptance rate is 85%, which means you'll face some strong competition during the admissions process. Do what you can to make your application stand out.
About 9% of students accepted to WCU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 520 and 640. Math scores were between 500 and 600.
The student to faculty ratio at Western Carolina University is about average at 16 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Western Carolina University is 73%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate tells us what percentage of first-year, full-time students choose to continue on to their sophomore year at a particular school. The rate at Western Carolina University is 71%, which is about average when compared to the national rate of 68%.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At WCU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 43%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Western Carolina University.
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 10,517 undergraduates at WCU with 8,760 being full-time and 1,757 being part-time.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,032 | $11,543 | $14,061 | $16,629 | $18,130 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of WCU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At WCU, approximately 54% of students took out student loans averaging $6,250 a year. That adds up to $25,000 over four years for those students.
Get more details about paying for Western Carolina University.
See which majors at Western Carolina University make the most money.
Get more details about the location of Western Carolina University.
Contact details for WCU are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | Highway 107, Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646 |
| Phone: | 828-227-7100 |
| Website: | www.wcu.edu/ |
| Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Business Administration & Management | 397 | $39,513 |
| Nursing | 308 | $68,774 |
| Marketing | 166 | $33,197 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 161 | $40,594 |
| Criminal Justice & Corrections | 149 | $38,682 |
| General Psychology | 140 | $27,505 |
| Health Sciences & Services | 127 | NA |
| Social Work | 111 | $36,727 |
| Allied Health Professions | 107 | $53,398 |
| General Biology | 98 | $28,381 |
Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
In 2022-2023, 6,340 students took at least one online class at Western Carolina University. This is a decrease from the 6,388 students who took online classes the previous year.
| Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 | 6,340 | 2,858 |
| 2021-2022 | 6,388 | 2,820 |
| 2020-2021 | 9,903 | 3,027 |
| 2018-2019 | 4,105 | 2,151 |
Learn more about online learning at Western Carolina University.
If you’re considering Western Carolina University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
Curious on how these schools stack up against WCU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.