For students willing to dive in intellectually, the University of North Carolina Wilmington offers a perfect environment for learning and living, one that is dynamic, demanding and engaging. Approximately three-fourths of freshmen surveyed said UNCW was their first choice.
At UNCW, passionate and engaged teaching, learning and research matter. Students consistently praise the quality of their interactions with faculty and express satisfaction with their overall educational experience. The faculty culture emphasizes teaching and mentoring, incorporating research as an important component of the undergraduate learning experience and a service to the state. International experiences are encouraged through study abroad programs and language and culture studies on campus.
UNCW offers 73 bachelor’s degree programs and 32 graduate programs, which include a Ph.D. in marine biology, and an Ed.D. in educational leadership. For the eleventh year, UNCW is among the top 10 public master’s universities in the South by U.S.News & World Report. The 2009 ranking was sixth. Among both public and private institutions in the South, UNCW is 14th out of 121 institutions. U.S. News also placed UNCW fifth on its first-ever list of "up-and-coming" master's universities in the South.
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UNCW’s strength in the natural sciences, especially biological sciences, chemistry and other disciplines that form the core of our internationally respected niche in the marine sciences, is the result of decades of intentional focus and investment. In the area of arts and literature, UNCW’s highest profile programs are in film studies and creative writing. The Department of Film Studies has evolved from a few film-related courses in various departments to a popular major. The Master of Fine Arts in creative writing has become one of the most respected and competitive on the East Coast.
Two recent additions to UNCW’s degree programs have been designed specifically to address the needs of the region: the Master of Public Administration (MPA) and the doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D). The MPA prepares students to enter management or policy positions with government and nonprofit agencies, including those individuals currently in those positions in southeastern North Carolina. The doctoral program in the Watson School of Education prepares graduates to improve public schools and other educational organizations in the leadership roles of principals and superintendents, helping to address the regional shortage of school administrators.
The university has taken a leadership role in the long-term economic, environmental, educational, social and cultural health of the region. Through the Professional Development System in the school of education, faculty work closely with nearly 100 area schools and agencies to improve the quality of public schools in the region. The School of Nursing has developed collaborative partnerships with area health care providers to give its students a wide range of clinical practice experiences and assist in improving community health care service . Memory Assessment and Research Services (MARS), a limited liability company owned by three UNCW professors, is part of the UNCW Knowledge Transfer Initiative, which is intended to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the academic setting to the community.
The UNCW Center for Business and Economic Services, the business research and extension division of the Cameron School of Business, maintains a database to monitor and analyze business and economic trends and conditions in the region.
Faculty, staff and students at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science and its state-of-the-art facility on the Intracoastal Waterway at Myrtle Grove are engaged in a wide variety of basic and applied research, service and education. These activities have implications for economic development, including marine biotechnology and “pharmaceuticals from the sea,” which have led to active agreements with pharmaceutical companies.
UNCW’s mariculture program was established to address technical constraints that need to be overcome to make the cultivation of marine species a viable industry. The objectives are to develop and transfer to commercial users cost-effective, environmentally sound technologies for marine food production and to mitigate depletion of marine populations through commercial cultivation or stock enhancement.
Overall, UNCW has an annual $500 million economic impact on the eight-county region of southeastern North Carolina and supports more than 7,000 jobs.
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