Undergraduate Aid Profile 2022-23

Undergraduate Aid Profile

 

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill prides itself on being a truly public institution, where access meets excellence. This includes meeting the full demonstrated need of undergraduate students. Supporting students with grants, scholarships, loans, and Work-Study makes a Carolina education affordable for students of all backgrounds. Explore the financial aid profile learn more about its impact on students during the 2022-23 academic year.

at a glance

74%

of all undergraduates applied for aid

 

47%

of them received some form of need-based financial aid

.

average scholarship or grant of any type:

$14,937

 

average need-based scholarship or grant award:

$18,909

Graphic of two pie charts, side by side. The left chart shows "not eligible for need-based aid" at 65.2% and "received need-based aid" at 34.8%. The right chart, a breakdown of "received need-based aid," includes grants and scholarships at 77.5%, loans at 21.1%, and Work-Study at 1.4%.

For the 2022-23 academic year, Carolina students were awarded

$205 MILLION
IN UNDERGRADUATE AID

This includes:

 

$159 million in grants and scholarships

 

$43 million in loans

 

$2.8 million in work-study

A student works on his laptop in McCorkle Place at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Portrait of Kimmi Chan-Sui.

Due to my family’s income, I would not have been able to attend a university if I hadn’t gotten into UNC. As a first generation college student and American, this scholarship has opened so many doors for me and my family and I’ll forever be grateful for this opportunity to be the first engineer in my family.

– Kimmi Chan-Sui ’24, Carolina Covenant Scholar

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Carolina stands out

Unlike at most peer institutions, the typical Carolina student with financial need receives most of their aid as grants or scholarships rather than loans. This allows students to graduate with thousands of dollars less debt than the average.

Average grant award amounts

A bar graph showing average grant award amounts, including the categories "UNC-Chapel Hill" at $14,937 and "national average" at $10,680.

Source for both graphs’ data: College Board “Trends in College Pricing,” 2023

Average loan debt among May 2022 graduates who borrowed (29.28% of students)

A bar graph showing average loan debt among May 2022 graduates, including the categories UNC-Chapel Hill at $14,404 for federal aid and $20,680 for all aid; public institutions at $32,100 for federal aid and $34,000 for all aid; and national average at $27,400 for federal aid and $29,400 for all aid.

Getting into college was my second biggest problem in high school…The biggest problem was how to pay for it. Having that scholarship money is security and comfort and less worry. I can focus more on being a student.

– Lamin Saidy ’26, Blue Sky Scholar

Portrait of Lamin Saidy.

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Recognized for excellence and accessibility

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Carolina ranks:

Students hang out on the steps of Wilson Library.

“As one of the top four public universities in the country, Carolina is committed to excellence in the classroom, on the athletics fields and in service to the people of the state of North Carolina and beyond,” said Chancellor Lee Roberts. “Our ranking by U.S. News and World Report speaks to the dedication of our faculty, students and staff every day as they work to discover and expand knowledge. Most importantly, our recognition as the number one best value for public universities is the result of a consistent, bi-partisan, decades-long commitment by the people of our state to ensuring that a world-class education remains affordable.”

– Chancellor Lee Roberts

Previous Undergraduate Aid Profiles

2021-2022
2020-2021