Western Carolina University: Rankings, Fees, Courses & Admissions

Accreditation, Number of Students and Faculties

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accredits Western Carolina University for awarding bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees. WCU has also been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (US) (AACSB). Several other degree programs offered by WCU are separately accredited by professional accrediting agencies. The student body of WCU comprises over 11000 students which includes more than 10,000 undergraduate enrollment as of Fall 2021. 58% of the students are female and 42% are male.  

University Campus, Facilities, Labs and Courses

The West Carolina University campus is situated in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. Students often spend their time biking or hiking through the forests and camping or backpacking on the Great Smoky Mountain National Park or on the Appalachian Trail. The base camp is the hub for outdoor activities and adventure like fishing, rock climbing, caving, kayaking, hiking or rafting. There are multiple world-class laboratories for supporting classroom instruction such as automation lab, engineering design lab, construction management lab, manufacturing and material lab, advanced machining lab, virtual machine environment, optoelectronic lab, structures lab and rapid prototyping and metrology lab. 

Streams, Number of Courses and Other Offerings

Western Carolina University offers 115 undergraduate concentrations and majors and over 40 graduate level degree programs with an ultimate focus on high-demand degrees which include a range of courses in engineering, humanities, science, education, arts, healthcare and business. Some of the major courses that are taught in WCU are Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services; Education; Visual and Programing Arts; Health Profession and Related Programs; Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Programs; Engineering, Engineering Related Technologies and Technicians; Psychology; Biology, and Biomedical Sciences; Social Sciences and Social Science Profession. The acceptance rate of WCU was 74% as of Fall 2021.  

Western Carolina University Acceptance Rate

The admissions at Western Carolina University is selective with an acceptance rate of 74% as of Fall 2021. Previously the university was more selective with an acceptance rate of 48.5% in 2020. 

Admission Eligibility Criteria

Freshman admission

• All applicants must secure a high school weighted GPA of at least 4.2
• All applicants must secure a high school unweighted GPA of at least 3.8
• All applicant must secure a class rank in the top 10% in high school
• Applicants require at least an ACT score of 30 or or an SAT score of 1370

Graduate admission

• All applicants must earn a GPA of 3.0 at least during the first term of enrollment 

Documents, Test and Average Score Required

Freshman admission

• Application and application fee
• High school transcript 
• Standardised test scores
• College transcripts 
• Credit examinations
• Bio sheet or personal essay
• Letters of reference
• Progress report

Graduate admission

• Application and application fee
• Official test scores of all previous attended undergraduate course work
• Letters of recommendation
• Official transcript that shows a conferred bachelor’s degree.
• Program specific documents
• Proof of English Language Proficiency for international students

Western Carolina University at Popular Courses

Some of the major courses that are taught in Western Carolina University are Business, Management, Marketing and Related Support Services; Education; Visual and Programing Arts; Health Profession and Related Programs; Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Programs; Engineering, Engineering Related Technologies and Technicians; Psychology; Biology, and Biomedical Sciences; Social Sciences and Social Science Profession.