Established as a school for American Indians, the University of North Carolina at Pembroke has become the most diverse institution among master’s-granting universities in the state.

At the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the university’s past is as important as its future. Founded in the late 1800s to educate the Croatan Indians (later renamed Lumbee) in North Carolina, the university seems to attract many of the state’s students of color looking to pursue higher education. UNCP, one of 16 schools that make up the University of North Carolina system, is a master’s level university serving more than 6,000 students, nearly 50 percent of whom are minorities.

“Our commitment to diversity is not just rhetoric,” says Dr. Charles F. Harrington, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “You can see it on our campus, in our students, in our faculty, in our curriculum and in our staff.”

Students of color flock to UNCP for the high-quality education they stand to receive at a fraction of the cost, Harrington says. “It’s about access and affordability. Our tuition and fees are among the lowest in the state,” he says.

According to UNCP officials, the minimum cost for a full-time, in-state undergraduate living on campus, with a meal plan, is $9,574 a year, significantly less than the $15,000 in tuition and fees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the state’s flagship school.

The First of Its Kind

During the 1830s, North Carolina banned education for all people of color. “For 50 years, my people couldn’t educate themselves. We rose several generations, and people watched their society become less and less educated … a very humbling thing,” says Alex Baker, spokesman for the Lumbee tribe of North Carolina. “Finally we won the right to have a school. There is a lot of pride when it comes to UNCP.”

In 1887, the General Assembly of North Carolina created the Croatan Normal School in response to a petition from the American Indian people of the area. The school, which offered elementary and secondary coursework, opened with 15 students. More than 30 years later, the board of trustees added a two-year program beyond high school, and phased out elementary instruction.