The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill. It is the University of North Carolina's flagship institution. A Public Ivy is an institution that provides an academic experience comparable to an Ivy League university. The university was chartered in 1789 and began accepting students in 1795. It is one of the oldest US public universities. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is one of the few claimants that has held classes and graduated students in a public university since the eighteenth-century.
The school was the first North Carolina public higher education institution to open its doors to students on Tuesday, February 12, 1795. North Carolina became coeducational in 1877 under President Kemp Plummer Battle. The school also began the process to desegregate under Chancellor Robert Burton House, when African-American graduate students were accepted in 1951. North Carolina established UNC Health Care in 1952 for research and treatment. Since then, UNC has specialized in cancer care through UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, which is one 51 national NCI-designated comprehensive centers.
There are over 70 degrees offered by the university. It is divided administratively into 13 professional schools and a primary unit called the College of Arts & Sciences. Five schools were named: UNC Kenana-Flagler Business School; UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health; UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and UNC Adams School of Dentistry. From the moment they attain junior status, all undergraduates receive a liberal art education and can choose to major in the college or one of the professional schools of university. It is listed as "R1: Doctoral Universities" ("Very high research activity") and is a member of Association of American Universities (AAU). The National Science Foundation reports that UNC spent $1.14 Billion on research and development in 2018, placing it 12th among the country.
