UNCW offers an array of high-quality programs at the baccalaureate and graduate levels as well as doctoral programs in educational leadership, marine biology, nursing practice and psychology. UNCW also offers a number of distance learning options, including clinical research, an accelerated R.N.-to-B.S.N. program and an Executive MBA program, taught exclusively online and specifically structured for working professionals. The university operates extension sites in several regional counties. UNCW is recognized nationally as a military-friendly university and works closely with Coastal Carolina Community College, Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River to offer programs designed for military personnel and their families. UNCW is committed to providing resources to military-affiliated students transitioning into the university. The Office of Military Affairs coordinates a comprehensive program of support services for military-affiliated students and advocates for student veterans, active-duty personnel and dependents. UNCW's faculty has created a multi-disciplinary applied learning model for students, Experiencing Transformative Education through Applied Learning (ETEAL). The model incorporates internships, study abroad experiences, community-based projects, research, directed independent study options and other educational opportunities. The university takes a leadership role in the long-term growth of the region. UNCW actively supports economic development through advanced biotech research at its CREST Research Park and the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which works to identify and nurture high-growth, low-impact companies in southeastern North Carolina. UNCW is dedicated to offering a community rich in diversity and inclusion, global perspectives and enriching the quality of life through scholarly community engagement. The university has formed numerous partnerships that provide students with internships, volunteer opportunities and research experiences. As a consistent member of the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and recipient of the Community Engagement Classification by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, UNCW is deeply committed to civic engagement. The university offers service-learning courses and philanthropic opportunities to faculty, staff and students. UNCW has been recognized for impressive gains in graduation rates nationally among four-year public universities from The Education Trust, having significantly improved six-year graduation rates among underrepresented minorities and reduced the gap between white and minority students over the past decade. That progress occurred even as average graduation rates improved for all students. The 2016-17 academic year held a number of milestone achievements for UNCW students, faculty and programs. UNCW was among 11 universities featured in a U.S. Department of Education report highlighting best practices in increasing college completion rates. UNCW students, faculty and an administrator were selected for five Fulbright Awards, and the university was included in a $250 million public-private national initiative to bring safe drugs to market faster and educate a new biopharmaceutical workforce. The university's student-athletes excel not only on the fields and courts, but in the classroom. Five UNCW athletic teams earned NCAA Public Recognition Awards for academic performance and 12 of university's 18 teams achieved a perfect NCAA Academic Progress Rates (APR) score of 1,000 for the 2015-16 academic year. UNCW Athletics' intercollegiate teams compete in NCAA Division I. UNCW has been part of the UNC system since 1969. In 2013, the university completed its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) institutional reaffirmation process with no additional reporting required, an accomplishment only an average of 35 percent of universities achieve.

Academic Grad Slug