Higher Education
The region has three major public universities. Appalachian State University is located in Boone, and has 17,344 students. Western Carolina University is located in Cullowhee, and has 9352 students. UNC Asheville is located in Asheville, and has 3,595 students. All three are part of the UNC system. Several small, private colleges are also located in the region. Mars Hill College, affiliated with the North Carolina Baptist Convention, is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Asheville. Founded in 1856, it is the oldest college or university in western North Carolina. Montreat College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Asheville. Lees-McRae College, located in Banner Elk, is also affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Warren Wilson College, located in Swannanoa, is noted for its strong pro-environment policies and social liberalism. Brevard College, located in Brevard, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Lenoir-Rhyne University, located in Hickory, is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Starting in 2012, Lenoir-Rhyne University has opened a Center for Graduate Studies in Asheville and offers master's level programs in Public Health, Nursing, Counseling and others.
Read more about this topic: Western North Carolina
Famous quotes containing the words higher and/or education:
“The idea was to prove at every foot of the way up that you were one of the elected and anointed ones who had the right stuff and could move higher and higher and even—ultimately, God willing, one day—that you might be able to join that special few at the very top, that elite who had the capacity to bring tears to men’s eyes, the very Brotherhood of the Right Stuff itself.”
—Tom Wolfe (b. 1931)
“In that reconciling of God and Mammon which Mrs. Grantly had carried on so successfully in the education of her daughter, the organ had not been required, and had become withered, if not defunct, through want of use.”
—Anthony Trollope (1815–1882)