UNC Asheville’s messaging highlights what makes us a unique and valuable institution—the impact of our liberal arts and sciences approach to teaching and learning, our location in Asheville and connection to the community, and the close-knit relationships between students and faculty that last a lifetime and lead to meaningful work that makes the world a better place.
The Narrative and “Claim It” Statement below include key words, phrases and concepts we use when communicating about the university. The Narrative describes who we are and what we do as a story to create an emotional connection with our audiences. The “Claim It” Statement illustrates the impact of the UNC Asheville experience through outcomes, accolades and achievements.
The Narrative
The University of North Carolina Asheville offers a singular experience for original minds.
We’re the original and only liberal arts campus in the University of North Carolina system. We break down conventions, overcome obstacles, expand horizons. We dare to connect curiosity and critical thinking, courage and challenge, imagination and impact, opportunity and responsibility. When the world looks down, we look up.
We’re a public resource that draws on a deep history to make a profound impact—on our students and on the world. We founded the National Conference on Undergraduate Research. Our STEAM Studio helped to produce the largest public art installation ever shown in Times Square. We offer majors and concentrations that re-tool the liberal arts and sciences for new challenges and new opportunities. We live in one of America’s great small cities, a mountain town with wit and grit, with an artist’s eye and an explorer’s heart.
We are the originals. We’re rooted in the Land of the Sky, at the intersection of what’s known and what’s possible. This is an education that’s affordable, adaptive, and endlessly relevant. This is an experience where every path leads to a new vista, where there’s room for every voice, and where the future is a frontier—vast and bright and close enough to touch.
“Claim It” Statement
UNC Asheville’s national reputation for empowering human potential is rooted in its unique student-centric public liberal arts and sciences mission. UNC Asheville thrives on close-knit connections among students and their faculty and staff mentors. The University’s 3,300 students are innovative, ethical, creative and resilient leaders who seek to understand complex global challenges and find creative, sustainable solutions that benefit our communities and the world. More than 65 percent of UNC Asheville students conduct applied research alongside faculty experts. UNC Asheville consistently ranks as a national top 10 Public Liberal Arts and Sciences University by U.S. News & World Report, and on its list of Most Innovative Schools. UNC Asheville regularly earns several national top 20 rankings in The Princeton Review’s “The Best 386 Colleges,” including Best Quality of Life, Town-Gown Relations, and UNC Asheville has ranked in the top two nationally for the “Best Schools for Making an Impact,” in The Princeton Review’s “Colleges that Pay You Back.”