We are happy to share some good news this week. For the 21st-straight year, UNC-Chapel Hill ranked as the No. 1 best value among public universities by the U.S. News & World Report and No. 4 overall among public institutions.
The University also received many other top marks for 2026, including:
- Tied for No. 4 for Bachelor of Science in nursing
- Tied for No. 4 in social work
- Ranked No. 7 in management
- Tied for No. 7 in marketing
- Tied for No. 8 for the undergraduate business program
- Ranked No. 8 in finance
- Tied for No. 8 for best colleges for veterans
- Ranked No. 10 in real estate
- Tied for No. 11 in psychology
- Tied for No. 12 in entrepreneurship
- Tied for No.14 in production/operations management
- Tied for No. 20 in accounting
These rankings come on the heels of U.S. News and World Report’s April rankings of graduate schools, which ranked 30 UNC graduate programs among the best in the country, including UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health claiming the No. 2 spot in the country and UNC School of Law ranking No. 18 in the country – a record high for the law school. UNC’s Eshelman School of Pharmacy also currently holds the No. 1 ranking in the country.
Chancellor Lee Roberts said of the new 2026 recognitions:
“Rising from No. 5 to No. 4 in these rankings clearly shows the impact of our public mission and the hard work of our students, faculty and staff. Holding strong as the No. 1 public university for best value affirms our relentless pursuit of an accessible, affordable education. Our goal is to be the nation’s best public university, and this recognition shows we are on the right path. I am grateful to everyone whose dedication continues to drive Carolina forward.”
Chancellor Roberts’s commendation of students, faculty and staff is right on point. Students, faculty and staff have long made Carolina what it is. We see that in the many concentrations – from nursing, to finance to marketing – that earned top marks in this latest university rankings report.
Carolina’s stellar reputation and relentless commitment to academic excellence have allowed the school to recruit and retain the very best faculty and staff while educating some of the brightest young minds from North Carolina and beyond. It’s no wonder Carolina received a record 84,317 applications last year.
What made these acknowledgements even more remarkable, though, was the campus community’s ability to overcome the considerable headwinds they faced in recent months.
Massive federal budget cuts have put jobs on the chopping block, shrunk research budgets and halted some work entirely. Tenure’s place at the university has been undermined and individual professors left in limbo for months. Immigration crackdowns have caused chaos for international students, including six students temporarily losing their visas earlier this year. And free thought and free speech feel increasingly under threat as political divisions deepen and too often drive decision making in university governance.
Students, faculty and staff have endured it all with grit and grace.
Where our students, faculty and staff deserve immense praise, the Board of Trustees that governs the school received more failing marks this week.
Sunday’s opinion piece in the News & Observer, aptly titled “Trustees are making one mess after another at UNC-Chapel Hill,” was summarily followed by the Tuesday news headline, “Ex-provost’s lawsuit is latest in line of allegations against UNC-Chapel Hill trustees.”
Both pieces cover the latest mishaps of the Trustees. As N&O Associate Opinion Editor Ned Barnett writes:
Consider where the board has taken one of the nation’s most respected public universities.
A push by several trustees led to the hiring of former New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick as UNC’s new football coach. He’s 73, and is being paid $10 million a year. In his inaugural season, the six-time Super Bowl winner’s team is getting blown out by what should be peer programs. Maybe the board should have left the hiring of the football coach to the Athletic Department.
Another board project – the creation of a School of Civic Life and Leadership – was hatched by trustees without coordination with the faculty. The Wall Street Journal editorial board hailed the new school as an outlet for conservatives, and Republican state lawmakers eagerly funded it. But a year later, the School of Civic Life is riven by internal faculty tension and resignations. An outside counsel has been appointed to review what is hobbling the school’s launch. ….
Now comes another board-related fiasco. Former UNC-Chapel Hill Provost Chris Clemens is suing the board for allegedly violating open meetings and public records laws.
The full article is worth a read, but you get the picture.
The fact that Carolina continues to gain national recognition despite the antics of the Board of Trustees is truly a testament to those on campus. We thank them for all they do to make us proud and make Carolina a national leader among public universities.
Harkening back to the words of Chancellor Roberts, it’s good to have a leader who acknowledges that the faculty, staff and students are what make Carolina great. It’s also good to have leadership dedicated to the mission of making Carolina the nation’s top public university. But to do that, it’s going to take a commitment from everyone.
Year after year, students, faculty and staff have stepped up; we can’t continue to let a self-serving Board of Trustees hold us back.