I visited Western Carolina University on a very quiet weekend morning. With fancier and more prestigious colleges across the state, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I was very pleasantly surprised by the look of the facilities. The buildings did not look old and seemed very well kept up, as were the grounds. Because I could not get an official tour, I walked around by myself.

Western Carolina is in Cullowhee, North Carolina and has about 9000 undergraduates on campus. It's 52 miles west of Asheville, surrounded by the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. It's part of the North Carolina promise, which offers tuition of $500 per semester to in-state students. It's also under $24K a year for out-of-state students. While the acceptance rate is 85% and the 4- and 6-year graduation rates are 43% and 61% respectively, there's a good education to be found here.

There are Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Allied Professions, Engineering and Technology, Health and Human Services and Fine and Performing Arts.

I was thrilled to gain access to the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center. It was built-in 2005 and it's very impressive, with a 1000-seat performance hall with state-of-the-art acoustics and lighting system as well as an art museum. I did not realize that Western Carolina had such a thriving College of Fine and Performing Arts, with a School of Art and Design, School of Music, and School of Stage and Screen. Between them, they offer a BS in Interior Design, BFA's in Studio Art, Art Education, Graphic Design, Acting, Entertainment Design and Technology, Film and Television Production, and Musical Theater, as well as BM's in Music Performance, Commercial Music and Audio Production, and Music Education.

The rest of the academics will have to wait until another visit when the admissions office is open. However, here's a great bit of news: Western Carolina just received (November 2023) $98.8 million from the state for expansion of their College of Engineering and Technology to support and serve industry in Western North Carolina. The money will be used to replace the current engineering building and support the development of the programs. This will be on my watch list!