University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), founded in 1789, is the top research university in the world. This university is one of the three earliest public universities in American history and one of the five largest public universities. Known as "public ivy" and "new ivy", it represents the highest level of American public universities together with the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Michigan at ann arbor.

Teachers and alumni of the school include 9 Nobel Prize winners, 23 Pulitzer Prize winners and 49 Rhodes scholars. Other famous alumni include an American president, 1 American vice president, 38 American governors, 98 American congressmen, 9 cabinet members, 39 Henry Luce scholars, 3 astronauts and founders and CEOs of many Fortune 500 companies.

The University of North Carolina enjoys a high academic reputation in the fields of medicine and public health. According to American news reports? Or QS World University Rankings? 20 15, its Geerlings school of public health and Harvard tied for the second place in the United States. The School of Dentistry ranks third in the United States as a whole, and the School of Medicine of Ashelman ranks 1 in the United States. At the same time, according to AWRU 20 19 world discipline ranking, UNC ranks in the top five in public health, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and medical research.