UNC Greensboro is proud to announce continued high marks on respected 2025 lists highlighting value, social mobility, and student experience in higher education.  

In a UNC System that provides exceptional options, UNCG strives to offer opportunity, excellence, and impact, both to its students and the communities that we prepare them to serve. As the 2025 accolades are tallied, it is heartening to find our name on rankings that praise universities for those same attributes.  

Opportunity 

UNCG helps make higher education costs manageable for its students and broadens their aptitude for lifelong career success. In addition to challenging academics and the guidance of first-rate faculty, UNCG places internships, hands-on research, and study abroad experience within reach for its students.  

All these opportunities lead our Spartans – half of whom are first-generation college students – to graduate into a higher socio-economic class. But don’t take our word for it. The following lists keep UNCG at the top in 2025:

• The New York Times’ most affordable institution in North Carolina for net cost 

• #1 in North Carolina for social mobility by U.S. News and World Report and The Wall Street Journal

• #1 in North Carolina for Gilman Scholarships, which enables students with limited financial resources to study abroad 

Excellence 

Whether preparing students for careers in education, health care, science, the arts, humanities, or business, UNCG’s faculty and staff strive for excellence. Our continued accolades speak for themselves: 

• U.S. News and World Report’s best colleges for 34 straight years 

• Princeton Review’s best colleges for 25 straight years 

Furthermore, independent surveys prove that students genuinely enjoy their collegiate experience at UNCG and praise their return on investment. Many of the 2025 rankings support what Spartans say about the welcoming environment, supportive resources, and career preparation they find here. 

• UNCG is The Wall Street Journal’s #2 university in North Carolina for student experience.

• The Princeton Review named UNCG among 16 universities nationwide on its inaugural mental health honor roll. 

• The Military Times named UNCG as a “Best for Vets” university for our exceptional support for military-affiliated students. 

Impact 

The University’s impact not only benefits its students, but also our state and its communities. UNCG stimulates the Piedmont Triad economy by $1 billion, pulls in $65 million for external research funding, and leads innovative programs serving our communities. Here are a few examples of how these programs will connect Spartans with impactful funding and experiences in 2025: 

• $5 million Mellon Foundation grant offers paid internships for humanities students, which will benefit 650 students and 130 local nonprofits over five years. 

• $2.4 million award to the School of Nursing meets North Carolina’s growing demand for nurses by hiring more faculty to allow for increasing enrollment. 

• $1 million Google grant launched the CyberGuardian Academy, a cybersecurity clinic that trains 870 students to support 174 organizations over six years. 

Story by Becky Deakins, University Communications.
Photos by Sean Norona, University Communications.