Applications Up Sharply for Class of 2025

Posted on Feb. 10, 2021

For the 16th consecutive year, the University received a record number of first-year undergraduate applications. The 53,735 applications for fall 2021 reflect a 21 percent increase over applicants for fall 2020.

Among applicants who qualify as in-state applicants, applications were up 13 percent from a year earlier, according to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. For those applying from out of state, applications were up 25 percent from fall 2020.

Applicants for the first-year class who applied by Oct. 15 received their decisions by the end of January; those who applied by Jan. 15 will receive theirs by the end of March. While first-year application deadlines for fall 2021 have passed, the University accepts transfer applications from students currently enrolled at other institutions through Feb. 15.

“We had the pleasure of getting to know so many dynamic, caring and talented students as our admissions office read each of their applications,” said Rachelle Feldman, interim vice provost for enrollment. “We’re honored to welcome these new students to Carolina, and we know that our campus will be an even more vibrant and engaging place because they’re a part of it.”

UNC expects to enroll a class similar in size to last fall, when it welcomed approximately 4,450 first-year students and 850 transfer students.

Carolina is one of the few public flagship universities to maintain need-blind admissions; it meets 100 percent of the documented need of undergraduates qualifying for need-based aid who apply on time. Carolina meets more than two-thirds of that need with grants and scholarships. The average debt of graduating students is 22 percent below the national average. More than 10 percent of the class of 2022 qualified for the Carolina Covenant, the University’s commitment to debt-free financial aid for its neediest students. Approximately 700 students are designated as Covenant Scholars each year.

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