White azalea blooms frame Holladay Hall.

NC State Is Your Springboard

If you’re considering joining our Wolfpack, there’s no better season to explore NC State's flourishing campus.

April 24, 2023 Alex Fulton 5-min. read

Our university springs to life this time of year. With the sun sticking around longer each evening, students are shedding their coats, getting outdoors and spending more time soaking up everything NC State has to offer.

Studying on Stafford Commons. Learning by doing in greenhouses, 3D printing labs and art studios. Getting ready to turn their tassels at commencement. No matter how they’re spending this semester, the Wolfpack lives out our Think and Do motto and finds bright ways to grow both academically and personally.

Calling all go-getters: If you’re still searching for your perfect university home, we’re waiting to welcome you, too. See what you could discover at NC State.

Explore a Blossoming Campus …

Nice to meet you. We’re North Carolina’s flagship STEM institution — and one of the top public universities in the U.S.

Between our flora-filled landscape and our leading rankings, one thing is clear: This university is officially in full bloom.

Purple pansies line the walkway to Talley Student Union.

Students soak up the sun — and squeeze in some studying — in the Court of North Carolina.

An aerial view of the 1911 Building and surrounding campus. — Established in 1887, we’re still going strong. Grassy quads, historic buildings and bountiful bricks give our main campus a classic collegiate feel.

An aerial view of Centennial Campus. — A short bus ride or walk away, our world-renowned research park — Centennial Campus — is home to the library of the future and home base for countless industry leaders.

White azaleas surround Talley Student Union.

A bird sits in its nest, built in the mouth of a copper wolf statue on campus.

… With a Booming Hometown

We’re the cornerstone of a bustling metropolitan area, Raleigh, North Carolina. It’s a fast-growing city filled with bucket-list-topping eateries, ample lush greenery, headlining arts and culture, and a thriving tech economy.

A colorful mural in downtown reads "All are welcome. Raleigh N.C." — We’re known as the City of Oaks — equal parts Southern charmer and high-tech hub.

With the Raleigh skyline close by, an exit sign signals that NC State University is a short drive away.

People enjoy a field of sunflowers in Dix Park, with downtown Raleigh's skyline in the background.

An aerial view of nearby Pullen Park on a sunny day.

Some of the biggest names in business — Apple, Google and FUJIFILM — have flocked to our hometown in recent years, and we’re a major reason why.

After all, it pays to be next door to NC State talent; just ask the 70-plus partners based on our Centennial Campus and offering internships and on-the-job experience around the corner from your classes.

#3 Best Place for Business and Careers

Forbes

#10 Best Place for College Students To Live

WalletHub

$62,000+ Average Starting Salary

for NC State students who earned a bachelor’s degree in May 2022

Study Differently

We believe learning shouldn’t be limited to lecture halls. From rolling farmland to futuristic fabric labs, dynamic classrooms abound on our campus.

A student visits a campus greenhouse to see a specimen of the rare and vibrantly colorful corpse flower.

Students collaborate on a drawing at The Corner, an open-air collaboration space on Centennial Campus.

Two students use the Innovation Studio at the D.H. Hill Library.

A Wilson College of Textiles student uses the college's lab space and equipment to weave a new creation.

Here, you’ll find classes you couldn’t take anywhere else. The list below is just a sample of what you could explore.

An Introduction to the Honey Bee and Beekeeping
Aquacultural Engineering
Country Dance
Dinomania: Dinosaurs in Culture and Science
Earth from Space
Floral Design
Flyfishing
Frauds and Mysteries of the Past
Global Agribusiness Management
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Pickleball
Poisons, People and the Environment
Sports Analytics
Spy vs. Spy: Cold War Intelligence History
Sustainable Tourism

Browse our course catalog

Choose Your Adventure

We focus on giving students a practical education that prepares them for anything. That means getting your hands dirty and venturing into the world to figure out what drives your passion.

Outside of day-to-day coursework, our students make waves at fashion shows, get a change of scenery abroad, earn funding for their own research projects and so much more.

The FTD Emerging Designers Showcase debuts the senior collections of students graduating from the Wilson College of Textiles’ fashion and textile design program. — Before they score jobs designing for Lululemon, Anthropologie, Pottery Barn and beyond, students graduating from the Wilson College of Textiles’ fashion and textile design program debut their senior capstone collections at the FTD Emerging Designers Showcase.

Image shows green fluorescent dye swirling in a water-filled cylinder, part of a student research project supported by the Office of Undergraduate Research. — Our Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is a one-stop shop for asking questions, meeting mentors and conducting hands-on research.

Galen Wilcox (Aerospace Engineering and Mathematics ‘23) reached out to the OUR for help facilitating his research into fluid mechanics, which led to an opportunity to verify through experimentation a set of results he predicted through mathematical analysis. — Galen Wilcox ’23 gained lab experience through an OUR-sponsored project, using fluorescent dye to simulate his mathematical models.

Our Prague campus puts you steps away from gorgeous architecture, historical sites and culture. — You can immerse yourself in the heart of Europe while studying at our permanent international facility, the NC State European Center in Prague.

At home in our Pack and across the world: a group of students pose in their NC State gear on a study abroad trip. — Our 200-plus study abroad programs set you up to excel in a diverse, global society — without delaying graduation.

Be Well and Thrive

Being part of a Wolfpack means caring for one another. Your health and well-being are vital to your success as an NC State student, and we offer wellness-related resources to support you mentally, physically and emotionally.

Whether you’re getting homework help in our Academic Success Center, working out your worries in our 430,000-square-foot Carmichael Gym complex, or finding space to be your authentic self in an interest- or identity-focused community, we’re here and eager to help you excel.

Students exercise in the Wellness and Recreation Center, a sprawling gymnasium complex that opened in 2020.

Women kayak on Lake Raleigh, located on our Centennial Campus and open to the public.

A yoga class in the gardens of the Gregg Museum of Art & Design.

Students snap a quick selfie while tabling in the atrium of Talley Student Union.

When they needed a break, students unwound with an event at The Corner that featured tiny horses, dogs and more.

Students gather in the newly renovated DH Hill Jr. Library.

Join a Universe of Thinkers and Doers

What do NC State alumni do after graduation? Whatever they want.

Our grads spin off successful startups, teach others how to better our planet — and, sometimes, rocket off to explore beyond its atmosphere. No matter what may come next, an NC State degree is your launchpad.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch floats in space, with Earth behind her. — Three-time NC State alumna **Christina Koch** is heading to the moon as a crew member for NASA’s Artemis II.

Meet more inspiring NC State alumni:

Ritika Shamdasani ’23 co-founded Sani, a South Asian-inspired formalwear and loungewear brand, with her sister — and landed on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Mixing interests in microbiology and music, Gino Fernandes II ’20 found space at NC State to become a recording artist and start his own record label while pursuing a career at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Connections they made as Park Scholars helped Lindsay Wrege ‘21 and Michael Evans ‘20 ‘21 create 321 Coffee, a company that provides meaningful employment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Leigh-Kathryn Bonner ’15 is the founder and CEO of Bee Downtown. Her company sets up hives on corporate campuses to teach about the importance of healthy honeybee populations — and bring a bit of the magic of agriculture back into cities.
Michael Brennan earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees at NC State. As the next director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center, he’ll track and predict tropical weather systems.

Keep Up With Life at NC State

Last semester, we welcomed a record-breaking 5,601 first-year students. From Day One, they scouted out their own unique paths here — and made us proud every step of the way.

Imagine opening your red envelope, reading your acceptance letter and joining all of them on campus next year to write your own NC State story. Feels right, right? We’ll be standing by to receive your application.

Incoming student Mary Julian celebrates her acceptance to NC State with her pup.

Incoming student Katie Alcaraz holds up wolf ears and her red envelope, which contains her acceptance letter to NC State.

Much like a heaping scoop of our Howling Cow ice cream, life in the Wolfpack can be pretty sweet. If you want to get an insider’s look at our campus day to day, follow along with @NCState on social media.

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