Description of East Carolina University

Overview

East Carolina University (ECU) is a public, four-year university established in 1907 and located in Greenville, North Carolina. ECU has 12 colleges and schools, 10 of which are degree-granting. Serving a largely rural population in the coastal region of the state, ECU is one of 17 constituent institutions within the University of North Carolina (UNC) System. ECU accomplishes its mission – to be a national model for student success, public service, and regional transformation – through education, research, creative activities, and service.

ECU is the fourth largest institution in the UNC System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The UNC System is governed by a Board of Governors, which delegates significant responsibility to ECU’s Board of Trustees. The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education classifies ECU as Research 1: Very High Research Spending and Doctorate Production. In 2010 and 2015, ECU received the Community Engagement Classification from the New England Resource Center for Higher Education and, in 2024, was designated as a Carnegie Leadership for Public Purpose institution.

Facts and Figures

ECU offers 84 baccalaureate degree programs, 68 master’s degree programs, six professional practice doctoral programs, 13 research/scholarship doctoral programs, 106 certificates, and two specialist degree programs. In Fall 2024, ECU employed 6,500 personnel (including graduate assistants); over 2,000 of these employees held a faculty appointment. In 2023-2024, ECU conferred over 7,100 degrees and certificates and, in the most recent data reported to the National Center for Educational Statistics (for fiscal year 2023), had core expenses of over $550 million.

ECU’s total enrollment in Fall 2024 was 26,940 with 21,445 undergraduates and 5,495 graduate students. All 100 counties in North Carolina, 49 states and the District of Columbia, and 72 countries were represented in the student body. Over 30 percent of all students were enrolled in online courses only.