Our tour guide at UNC Asheville was a fifth-year student from Daytona Beach, FL who joked that he liked the college so much, he was staying for a fifth year. In reality, his choice to double major in engineering with a mechatronics concentration and math had made a fifth year a necessity, something he didn’t mind one bit given the beauty of the surrounding area, the supportive nature of the school, and the interesting classes he was taking, with lots of hands-on opportunities. In his third year, for example, he had to build a 3-D printer from 3-D parts that he designed. In his Senior Design class, he is designing a robotic solar pallet to take parts to solar panels—a project that will help a local company.

His five years at UNC Asheville will pay off at the testing engineer job he has waiting for him in Greensboro after graduation at a company where he interned the previous summer.

A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT

As a public liberal arts college, UNC Asheville’s faculty is eager to help students succeed. When our tour guide was struggling with Calculus, his professor sent him an email that said, “I can see your grade is slipping but I can tell you’re working hard. Here are some things you can do… .” And then he listed all the campus resources he could make use of. Faculty here is an integral part of student success, connecting students to the many layers of support. An early academic alert system means that professors are trained in looking for warning signs that students are struggling, such as missing class. A “Care & Crisis” team gets involved as soon as a student is identified as needing help.

In this way, UNC Asheville feels like a small liberal arts college. Classes average 20 people. Students tend to be “interesting and quirky.” Many have pink or purple hair. Anyone can be involved in theater, not just theater majors—or even just students. Our tour guide’s chemistry professor served as the narrator for a recent “War of the Worlds” production.

The humanities curriculum required for all four years regardless of major “forces you to think and collaborate with people who have different opinions,” according to Steve McKellips, the senior director of admission and financial aid. “Students who are attracted to colleges like Elon, Furman, Duke, Davidson, and Wake Forest would excel here without the huge price tag.”

MOST POPULAR MAJORS

Environmental Studies, Psychology, Biology, Health and Wellness Promotion, Management, English and Engineering.

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

UNC Asheville’s financial aid model is built around affordability, i.e. need-based aid as opposed to merit aid that is tied to GPA because “we don’t want 20 grand relying on a mid-term grade.” Applicants applying ED1 or ED2 can contact Financial Aid to find out what their expected package will be. “There is no fiscal advantage to be ED. All students get the best package we can find for them.”

Here are the merit-based opportunities:

Academic scholarships (with a 3.0 GPA requirement to keep it each year) up to $5,000

New leadership-based scholarships for fall 2020: Selby & Richard McCrae Scholarship - $10,000 per year (there are 4 of these and out of state students are eligible)

There are also $10,000 scholarships for students to take part in “high-impact” practices such as summer internships



ADMISSION TIP

They use holistic review and “will look at anything a student sends,” such as an art portfolio, a video, etc. If unsure about including something in your application, they say to just call and ask them.