Quad

Head-to-head

Key differences

The biggest gaps between these schools, largest first.

  1. 1

    UNC costs about $14.5K less per year on average than UVA ($25,694 vs. $40,185, all students)

    Average cost, all students
  2. 2

    UVA grads earn $14.7K more ten years out than UNC's ($86,863 vs. $72,200)

    Median earnings, 10 yrs
  3. 3

    UNC's yield is 5 pts higher than UVA's

    Yield rate
  4. 4

    UNC has 4 pts more Pell recipients than UVA (20% vs. 16%)

    Pell Grant recipients
  5. 5

    UNC has 4 pts more first-gen students than UVA (20% vs. 16%)

    First-generation students
  6. 6

    UVA is more diverse (index 0.70 vs. 0.67)

    Diversity index

The shape of each school

Each axis is a national rank among 4-year colleges; further out = more of it.

SelectivityTest scoresSizePell shareFirst-genDiversity

Who's hardest to get into

UNC admits 15%, UVA 17%; UNC's yield is higher, at 45%.

Acceptance rate
UNC15%
UVA17%
Quad's selectivity
  • UNCHighly selective
  • UVAHighly selective
SAT middle 50%Axis 1300–1600
UNC
1390–1530
UVA
1410–1540
How they read a recordfirst-years at 3.75+
  • UNCRigor and GPA very importantweighted GPAs
  • UVASchool record required

Who's on each campus

UNC is a bit larger than UVA (20,752 vs. 17,597 undergrads) and has the larger Pell share.

Undergrads
UNC20.8K
UVA17.6K
Pell Grant share
UNC20%
UVA16%

Majors and faculty

Biology/Biological Sciences leads at UNC, and Computer and Information Sciences at UVA; both have 15 students per faculty member.

Students per faculty member
UNC15 to 1
UVA15 to 1
Most popular majorshare of graduates
  • UNCBiology/Biological Sciences, General11%
  • UVAComputer and Information Sciences, General13%

What each costs

UNC costs about $14.5K less a year than UVA on average; UVA's grants cover the larger share of its price.

Average cost, all students
UNC$25.7K
UVA$40.2K
Aid generosity
UNC21%
UVA22%

What each pays off

UVA's former students earn more, a median $86.9K ten years after enrolling; both graduate more than 90% within six years.

Median earnings, 10 years
UNC$72.2K
UVA$86.9K
Graduation rate
UNC91%
UVA94%

How each has changed

Applications grew at both; both got more selective.

Applications, 10-year change
  • UNCGrowing+112%
  • UVAGrowing+90%
All the numbersEvery figure for these colleges in one table, with differences highlighted.
Sources for this comparisonEvery dataset and year behind the numbers in this comparison; tap any ⓘ for one number's source

Figures are the newest each college has published; years can differ between colleges. Each value's ⓘ shows its source and year. Why