The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill serves as an educational and economic beacon for the people of North Carolina and beyond. All this accomplished through its teaching, research and engagement.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was the nation's first state university to open its doors and the only public university to award degrees in the 18th century. The first student of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill enrolled in 1795. UNC is one of the original eight schools known as a Public Ivy.

Distance Education
Distance Education at UNC-Chapel Hill offers the same excellent educational quality as is found in on-campus classes. Distance education includes courses, degrees and certificates for professionals and busy adults. While continuing to live and work in their native town, adult learners can enroll in individual courses, certificates or degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Through online education, video-conferencing and face-to-face instruction in or near their homes, distance education students experience the same high quality instruction, demanding workload and spirited class discussion as students on the main campus.

Individuals interested in graduate and professional degrees may enroll in a wide range of nationally ranked graduate and professional certificates online through the Schools of Education, Information and Library Science, Journalism and Mass Communication, Nursing, Public Health, Social Work and the Department of Allied Health Sciences in the School of Medicine.

Distance students use the university's full resources, including the libraries, the Writing Center and technology support. Lots of courses are identical to those taught in Chapel Hill and are taught by the same outstanding faculty. In other cases, faculty and the instructional support team design courses specifically for distance education programs. The quality instruction, the program content and the support services engage students as they enroll and complete their academic work. The process links students not only to their particular program, but to the whole university.

An online course or program may be right for you if you need the flexibility to fit your studies around your work and don’t want to travel to attend a residential program. Online classes are just as demanding as their on-campus counterparts. In fact, it often takes more self-discipline to succeed in an online learning environment due to the absence of face-to-face interaction and mandatory physical attendance that you have in on-campus courses.

Financial Aid
Financial aid is available for graduate students who are enrolled in a degree-granting program. Undergraduate students also may be eligible for financial aid for courses they take online learning. All students must be degree-seeking, academically eligible, and enrolled at least half-time. Financial aid packages for undergraduate students may consist of grants and loans, while the majority of aid to graduate and professional students is from loan sources.