Overview
Founded in 1873, the University of North Georgia comprises five campuses in Blue Ridge, Cumming, Dahlonega, Gainesville, and Oconee County, all located in the state’s fastest-growing region. With a total enrollment of nearly 20,000 students, UNG is one of the largest public universities in the state. UNG’s emphasis on leadership, innovation, collaboration, and exploration unleashes students’ potential to make a meaningful impact in the workforce and in the communities they serve.
UNG strives to develop students into leaders for a diverse and global society by providing a culture of academic excellence in a student-focused environment that includes quality education, service, inquiry and creativity. As a result, UNG has produced generations of military, professional and civic leaders who serve in Georgia and throughout the world.
UNG is one of only six federally-designated senior military colleges in the nation, and its Dahlonega Campus hosts an all-Army ROTC Corps of Cadets of more than 750 students. This distinctive part of UNG’s mission and identity have garnered the university designations as a State Leadership Institution and The Military College of Georgia. In 2017 and 2019, UNG’s Corps of Cadets earned the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Award and claimed the honors as the top Army ROTC program among the nation’s senior military colleges, which include The Citadel, Norwich University, Texas A&M, Virginia Tech, and VMI. Nearly half of all officers in the Georgia Army National Guard have commissioned through UNG.
To support the development of globally-prepared leaders, UNG offers 12 language programs and is designated a Chinese Language Flagship by the National Security Education Program and the U.S. Department of Defense. Additionally, UNG is a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and won the 2019 National Security Agency Codebreaker Challenge among a field of 500 competing institutions.
UNG continues to expand its national reputation, earning high marks in rankings for value and affordability, innovation, and academic excellence. Since 2013, UNG students have earned nearly $2 million in prestigious nationally competitive scholarship programs, such as the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, the Harry S. Truman Scholarship, and the National Institutes of Health Undergraduate Scholarships. UNG was recognized nationally as a top producer of Fulbright Student Scholars in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and was the only university in Georgia to earn this designation in 2019.
UNG was the first public university in Georgia to earn the prestigious Carnegie Community Engagement classification. Through its academic programs and institutes, UNG provides faculty and students with opportunities to gain relevant, hands-on experience in their fields of study in ways that also benefit local communities in the region.
As a leading regional university, UNG helps fuel the economic momentum of one of the fastest-growing areas of the state. While UNG attracts students from nearly every state and more than 80 countries, about 80% of UNG students are from the northeast Georgia region. In 2019, UNG had an economic impact of $667 million in its region and generated more than 7,000 jobs.