America’s first public university is also its flagship – The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – University News

June 5, 2026

University News

America’s first public university is also its flagship

Carolina’s history parallels that of the United States, and the University is a leading example of the good public institutions can produce.

Story by Brennan Doherty and video by John Roberts, University Communications and Marketing, Friday, June 5th, 2026

The 250-year history of the United States runs parallel to the history of UNC-Chapel Hill.

In the same year the nation declared its independence, North Carolina’s first constitution called for state-supported schools, including universities.

Carolina’s charter dates to 1789, the year the U.S. Constitution was signed and George Washington took the first presidential oath of office.

“You could study the history of UNC, and it’s like studying American history in a microcosm,” said Nicholas Graham, University archivist.

The birthplace of public higher education, Carolina opened its doors to students in 1795 and was the sole public university to award degrees in the 18th century.

But beyond being a historic first, Carolina has for centuries served as a leading model for all other universities across the nation in public service, research, innovation and affordability, illustrating how a public institution should support its home state and its people.

From preparing the nation’s top healthcare professionals and conducting groundbreaking research to producing business leaders, cultural and sporting icons and even a president, Carolina is at the heart of America.

The public good pursued by Tar Heels fuels North Carolina as well as the nation at large.

“That means being first in ways that matter beyond our own campus — opening doors for students, advancing discoveries that improve lives and serving the state whose name we bear,” said Chancellor Lee H. Roberts. “Carolina’s history is extraordinary, but its true measure is what that history makes possible for North Carolina and for the nation.”

Cadets in the U.S. Navy’s pre flight training program training at Bowman Gray Memorial Pool. (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Preparing American heroes

When Graham thinks about Carolina’s biggest contributions to the U.S., his mind immediately goes to how the University helped the nation’s soldiers prepare for two world wars. During World War I, the University hosted the Student Army Training Corps, and during World War II, Carolina was one of just four universities nationwide to host the U.S. Navy’s intensive six-week pre flight training program.

“Over the course of three years, more than 20,000 people came through Chapel Hill,” including future President George H.W. Bush and National Baseball Hall of Fame member Ted Williams, Graham said.

“That was a huge impact on campus, both the physical campus and all the services. It was a tremendous logistical effort for the University to be able to host that number of people and to be able to accommodate all the things they needed to do.”

Astronauts Ed White and Jim McDivitt training at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center.

Carolina also played a major role in helping the nation become a world leader in space exploration.

Before the historic Apollo 11 mission to the moon, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins spent 125-plus hours learning celestial navigation at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, the South’s oldest planetarium.

“The planetarium’s director, Tony Jenzano, proposed this to NASA, and then UNC astronomers designed the curriculum,” Graham said. “It was an idea that came out of Chapel Hill: that astronauts going into space really needed to learn how to navigate by the stars in case of equipment failure.”

In the 21st century, Carolina is still preparing astronauts like Zena Cardman ’10, ’14 (MA), commander of SpaceX Crew-11, who completed their mission in January 2026.

Cardman shows that Tar Heels continue a legacy of shaping the future.

Carolina’s research timeline spans a century of innovations, from the life-changing commercialization of calcium carbide in 1893 to lifesaving HIV discoveries.

In the sporting world, everybody knows Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm, but today’s greats like Erin Matson, Drake Maye and Chloe Humphrey continued to develop in Chapel Hill at the University of National Champions.

Mia Hamm, considered the greatest women’s soccer player of all time, played for Anson Dorrance on the U.S. National Team and at Carolina. Hamm won four NCAA titles, two World Cups and was twice on Olympic Gold Medal-winning teams. (Carolina Athletics)

Perhaps the most important constant at Carolina, the No. 1 best value public for 21 straight years, has been a commitment to being accessible to all. This affordability aligns with the North Carolina Constitution’s requirement that “the University of North Carolina and other public institutions of higher education, as far as practicable, be extended to the people of the State free of expense.”

For Tar Heels, excellence and affordability aren’t mutually exclusive — an ideal all Americans can get behind.