Where is Western Carolina University located?
Western Carolina University is located in Cullowhee, North Carolina, near the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountains, fifty-two miles west of Asheville.
What is the mission of the university?
Teaching and learning constitute the central mission of Western Carolina University. The University seeks to create a community of scholarship in which the activities of its members are consistent with the highest standards of knowledge and practice in their disciplines. The commitment of the community to service, research, and creative activities complements the central mission and extends the benefits of its scholarship to society. As a major public resource for western North Carolina, the university promotes regional economic development through its teaching, research and service. Western Carolina University seeks to provide an environment in which students, faculty, and staff jointly assume responsibility for learning, where free exchange of ideas, intellectual challenge, and high standards of scholarship prevail.
What are some important facts about the university?
Information found at this web site focuses on what a resident student may want to know, but someof the information will be helpful to you.
See also:
Who Studies at WCU?
Why WCU?
When did WCU offer the first distance learning program?
1997 - Communication Disorders Consortium
1998 - Project Management
As you can see, Western Carolina has been offering fully-online programs for quite some time, and is recognized nationally as a leader in both programs and services to online students.
What programs does WCU offer?
This web site lists the programs offered through our partnerships with community colleges, communities in our region, and the departments and colleges at Western Carolina University. Many of our programs are fully-online.
What are the requirements for acceptance to a program?
Each program has an individual web site outlining the program requirements, for both admission, and degree completion.. For example in the Emergency Medical Care requirements are posted on the Emergency Medical Care web site.
What courses does WCU offer?
Western Carolina University offers a variety of distance learning courses both online, face-to-face, and in the hybrid format that incorporates both online and face-to-face learning. For a list of liberal studies courses offered each semester, please visit our home webpage or UNC Online. See also a list of courses offered for distance learners only.
Do I have the computer hardware and software needed?
Western Carolina University strives to ensure that students have access to the highest quality education, taking maximum advantage of the changes in information and communications technologies. All newly admitted degree-seeking undergraduate students along with all readmitted students are required to have an appropriate, networkable computer. The computer requirement includes both software and hardware components. Computer Requirements Explained in Detail
Are the university and the programs accredited?
Western Carolina University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Western Carolina University. Also, the university holds 21 special program accreditations and is a member of more than 30 state and national associations and organizations to which its professional programs are related. Please see the WCU Undergraduate Catalog for more specific information about accreditations, associations and organizations.
How do I apply for financial aid?
Please read the Eligibility Requirements and Applying for Financial Aid information. The FAFSA should be completed annually. The priority deadline for North Carolina institutions typically mid March. Visit FAFSA State Deadlines for specific information.
What is the cost?
Please visit Distance Learning Tuition and Fees.
How will I meet the liberal studies requirement?
Liberal Studies and Transfer Students
Courses transferred from other institutions to fulfill Liberal Studies requirements will be evaluated by the Registrar in consultation with the appropriate Department Head, Advising Center designee, or the Associate Vice chancellor for Academic Affairs for liberal studies, based on university guidelines. Credit earned by examination and advanced placement may be applied toward fulfillment of Liberal Studies requirements.
Students who have completed the general education core (44 hours) or the Associate of Arts degree or the Associate of Science Degree in the North Carolina Community College System will have the Liberal Studies requirements waived. However, if a student has completed the Associate of Applied Science Degree in the North Carolina Community College System, the student's academic transcript will be evaluated course by course for transfer credit. Note: Students who have completed (or are completing) the AAS may choose to continue coursework toward the Community College Transfer Core Diploma (see below).
When a transfer student has completed the General Education or Liberal Studies requirements of a public or private institution outside of the University of North Carolina system, the Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, in consultation with the Advising Center and the Liberal Studies Oversight Committee, will determine whether that institution's general education program is sufficiently similar to Western Carolina University's Liberal Studies program to warrant a blanket waiver of the Liberal Studies requirements.
General Degree Requirements
Liberal Studies Checklist
EXAMPLE: 44-hour general education core found under Associate of Arts in any community college catalog:
TRANSFER CORE DIPLOMA D10100
Upon completion of the 44-hour general education core, students are eligible for the Transfer Core Diploma. The diploma may assist with university transfer since it signifies that the student has completed the general education core requirements per the North Carolina Comprehensive Articulation Agreement.
English Composition
6 credit hours
Humanities/Fine Arts
(including at least one literature course) 12 credit hours
Social/Behavioral Science
(including at least one history course) 12 credit hours
Natural Science
8 credit hours
Mathematics/Computer Science*
6 credit hours
TOTAL
44
*CIS 110 is an option toward requirements in the transfer core diploma, but in the AA degree it counts as an elective.
(From Southwestern Community College, Sylva, North Carolina catalog)
If I would like to talk to someone, whom may I contact?
Please contact Division of Educational Outreach at 1-866-928-4723 or 1-828-227-7397.
Email: distance@email.wcu.edu
Applying to the University
How do I complete the Western Carolina University application?
Distance Application
When you are asked to indicate where you plan to take your course, please check the other box and type in the location such as Isothermal Community College or online.
When you are asked to indicate your area of interest, please type in the program of interest (Criminal Justice for example) then DL or Distance Learning.
If you are a transient student, i.e. visiting WCU, you may indicate you are a non-degree seeking student perhaps you are undeclared with respect to your major. However, please indicate what course you would like to take ( undeclared- BIOL 102 for example)
What additional information will be required?
Final official transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. You must have a cumulative 2.0 G.P.A. or better on all coursework at other colleges and be eligible to return to the college attended most recently.
Official high school transcripts, except under these conditions:
you have earned (at a minimum) an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science Degree, or you are 24 years of age or older
How do I pay the application fee?
At the present time, you will need to make a copy of the first page of the application (YOU MUST WHITE OUT all but the last four numbers of your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER) and attach a check or money order. Please print your name and date of birth on the check or money order. Mail the application fee along with the first page to the Office of Admission, Western Carolina University, 102 Cordelia Camp Building, Cullowhee, NC 28723.
We plan to have a new application available soon. Once the new application is up and running, you will be able to pay the application fee using a credit card (VISA, MasterCard, Discover, or American Express)
How may I submit transcripts and other documents?
Request a final official copy of your transcript be sent from each college you have attended. Also have your high school transcript sent, unless:
you have earned an associates degree, or you are 24 years of age or older and have completed 30 hours of college-level work with at least a 2.0 GPA
Transcripts need to be sent directly from all schools attended to:
The Office of Undergraduate Admission
102 Cordelia Camp Building
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
Or, if you are applying to a graduate program at WCU:
The Graduate School
109 Cordelia Camp Building
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
What are the requirements for acceptance to WCU?
Transfer Student Admission Requirements
How do I submitting scholarship documentation (i.e. TEACH)?
Please work with the Financial Aid office if you have a scholarship. You may reach the Financial Aid office by calling 828-227-7170.
Receipt of Acceptance to a program or acceptance as a certification, undeclared, or non-degree seeking student
Why must I submit the Intent to Enroll Form?
In order for you to be eligible to self-register or electronically conduct business with Western Carolina University, you must complete and return the Intent to Enroll Form to the Department of Educational Outreach/Distance Learning.
***If the Intent to Enroll is not received within two weeks, your offer to the program may be withdrawn***
By signing the document, you agree to successfully complete any outstanding/ pending or conditional requirements as communicated by the Office of Admission and understand that final admission to the university and your ability to register for classes may be contingent upon successful completion of these requirements.
When do I have access to the WCU portal (My CAT)?
You have access to the WCU portal when you have returned your Intent to Enroll Form and your status in our main student data Csystem is changed. Commonly, we refer to your coding being changed from an acceptance to WCU code to acceptance to the department as an S code.