Western Carolina University Teaching Programs

Located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Western Carolina University is a public institution. The charming, small-town atmosphere of Cullowhee draws many to the area.

Where Is Western Carolina University?

Contact details for WCU are given below.

	Contact Details
Address:	Highway 107, Cullowhee, NC 28723-9646
Phone:	828-227-7100
Website:	www.wcu.edu

How Do I Get Into WCU?

You can apply to WCU online at: www.wcu.edu/apply/undergraduate-admissions/apply.aspx

Admission Requirements for WCU

Submission	Required?
High School GPA	1
High School Rank	5
High School Transcript	1
College Prep Program	1
Recommendations	5
SAT or ACT Scores	5
TOEFL	1

How Hard Is It To Get Into WCU?

With an acceptance rate of 85%, WCU may not be as selective as some schools, but you should not take admittance for granted. Be sure to submit the best application you can.

Approximately 39% of accepted students are men and 61% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 83%, and the acceptance rate for women is 86%.

Average Test Scores

About 9% of students accepted to WCU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 520 and 640. Math scores were between 500 and 600.

WCU received ACT scores from 28% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT English scores ranged between 17 and 25. Math scores were between 17 and 0. Composite scores were between 19 and 26.

Can I Afford Western Carolina University?

The overall average net price of WCU is $18,207. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group.

The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.

Student Loan Debt

While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At WCU, approximately 57% of students took out student loans averaging $6,242 a year. That adds up to $24,968 over four years for those students.

Western Carolina University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are 10,145 undergraduate students at WCU, with 8,233 being full-time and 1,912 being part-time.

There are also 1,732 graduate students at the school.

Gender Diversity

Of the 8,233 full-time undergraduates at WCU, 45% are male and 55% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

The racial-ethnic breakdown of Western Carolina University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	106
Black or African American	445
Hispanic or Latino	675
White	6,389
International Students	135
Other Races/Ethnicities	483

Geographic Diversity

North Carolina students aren't the only ones who study at Western Carolina University. At this time, 25 states are represented by the student population at the school.

Over 36 countries are represented at WCU. The most popular countries sending students to the school are Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Canada.

Online Learning at Western Carolina University

There are 27 bachelor’s degree and 33 master’s degree programs available online at WCU. In 2022-2023, 6,340 students took at least one online class at the school.

The following chart shows how the online learning population at WCU has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 6th most popular in North Carolina for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2022-2023.

The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of WCU majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.

Major	1-Year Growth Rate
General Education	24%
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	30%

Western Carolina University Teaching Concentrations

The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.

Major	Bachelor’s	Graduate Certificate	Master’s	Doctor’s	TOTAL
Elementary Education	81	0	0	0	81
Kindergarten/Preschool Education & Teaching	61	0	0	0	61
General Education	0	0	54	0	54
General Educational Leadership & Administration	0	1	33	16	50
Educational, Instructional, & Curriculum Supervision	0	0	33	0	33
Music Education	24	0	0	0	24
College Student Counseling & Personnel Services	0	0	23	0	23
Counselor Education/School Counseling & Guidance Services	0	0	13	0	13
General Special Education	12	0	0	0	12
English & Language Arts Education	12	0	0	0	12
Teacher Development & Methodology	0	0	11	0	11
Physical Education Teaching & Coaching	10	0	0	0	10
Junior High/Intermediate/Middle School Education & Teaching	8	0	0	0	8
Social Studies Education	5	0	0	0	5
Art Education	4	0	0	0	4
Science Education	3	0	0	0	3
Mathematics Education	2	0	0	0	2
Spanish Education	0	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	222	1	167	16	406

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics

More about our data sources and methodologies.