Higher Education
The region has three major public universities. Appalachian State University is located in Boone, and has 17,344 students. Western Carolina University is located in Cullowhee, and has 9352 students. UNC Asheville is located in Asheville, and has 3,595 students. All three are part of the UNC system. Several small, private colleges are also located in the region. Mars Hill College, affiliated with the North Carolina Baptist Convention, is located 15 miles (24 km) north of Asheville. Founded in 1856, it is the oldest college or university in western North Carolina. Montreat College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, is located 15 miles (24 km) east of Asheville. Lees-McRae College, located in Banner Elk, is also affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Warren Wilson College, located in Swannanoa, is noted for its strong pro-environment policies and social liberalism. Brevard College, located in Brevard, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Lenoir-Rhyne University, located in Hickory, is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Starting in 2012, Lenoir-Rhyne University has opened a Center for Graduate Studies in Asheville and offers master's level programs in Public Health, Nursing, Counseling and others.
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Famous quotes containing the words higher and/or education:
“We are conscious of an animal in us, which awakens in proportion as our higher nature slumbers. It is reptile and sensual, and perhaps cannot be wholly expelled; like the worms which, even in life and health, occupy our bodies. Possibly we may withdraw from it, but never change its nature. I fear that it may enjoy a certain health of its own; that we may be well, yet not pure.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is not every man who can be a Christian, even in a very moderate sense, whatever education you give him. It is a matter of constitution and temperament, after all. He may have to be born again many times. I have known many a man who pretended to be a Christian, in whom it was ridiculous, for he had no genius for it. It is not every man who can be a free man, even.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)