About the University of North Carolina
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill paved the way for the state university system when it opened its doors in 1789. It was the first public institution for higher education, as well as the first to award degrees in the 18th century. The University now has a 3,000-member faculty and over 26,000 students from all 100 North Carolina counties, the other 49 states and more than 100 other countries.
The nationally acclaimed graduate program, offers 75 Doctoral, 111 Masters and degrees, as well as professional degrees in dentistry, medicine, pharmacy and law. Neighboring academic and scientific resources include the Research Triangle Park, a center for electronic, computer, and biomedical research and other area Universities including Duke University and North Carolina State University.
With its commitment to excellence, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will continue its tradition of exemplary education and endless opportunities. Attracting research funds from the federal government is among the major contributions the university makes to the North Carolina economy. A new ranking affirms that the Carolina faculty's ability to do just that places them among the nation's best. The university ranks 13th overall for total funding awarded by the National Institutes of Health in fiscal 2002 - a 12 percent increase. Carolina is the top public university in the South and one of only five Southern universities, public or private, cited in the NIH's top 20.
NIH, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the principal biomedical research arm of the federal government. NIH research institutes are fighting diseases including AIDS, alcoholism, arthritis, cancer, diabetes and stroke, as well as tackling health topics related to aging, women and children, drug abuse, the environment and emerging multidisciplinary fields such as genomics and proteomics.