Answer Woman: How many students enrolled at Asheville colleges? Most popular majors?

ASHEVILLE - Today's burning question is about the enrollment breakdown on college campuses across Asheville and what are the popular areas of study. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.

Question: What is the enrollment of each of the college campuses in Asheville and how does the number compare to last year? What is the breakdown on each campus regarding number and percentage of male versus female students? On each of the campuses what is the most popular major area of study?

Answer: The Citizen Times reached out to some campuses across Asheville such as UNC Asheville, A-B Tech, Warren Wilson College and Western Carolina University for the latest enrollment numbers and what majors pique the most interest in students these days.

Here's what we found:

UNC Asheville

The University of North Carolina Asheville had some exciting numbers to share as the 2023 fall semester marked its largest incoming class of first-time students in the past four years, according to a Sept. 11 news release from the university.

UNCA had 28% more applications this year than the previous year and the university credits this to its commitment to access and affordability.

The number of Pell-eligible students doubled from last year, increasing 97%, and 28% are first-generation college students, which is a 48% increase from the previous year, according to the release.

Pell Grants are awarded to students whose families make $50,000 a year or less.

"The University now has a 21% overall enrollment of BIPOC students, the highest in the institution’s history," the release said. BIPOC is an acronym for Black, Indigenous and people of color.

For the 2023-24 school year, UNCA has 2,907 students so far. Out of these students, 630 are first-time UNCA students.

Around 1,727 of students are female and 1,180 are male. While people of color who attend UNCA increased, the majority of students are white, 2,161 students to be exact, according to data on the school's website.

The most popular major area of study? Psychology takes the medal for that one. Since 2019 psychology has consistently pulled in almost 200 total undergraduate students. Environmental studies doesn't fall far behind, being the second-most popular major area of study with 160 undergraduate students majoring in it, according to a UNCA 2022-23 fact book.

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College

Community college enrollment differs from traditional four-year universities.

"A-B Tech is the largest higher education institution in WNC, serving over 23,000 students a year, but the type of student varies widely," A-B Tech spokesperson Kerri Glover told the Citizen Times in an Oct. 4 email.

The type of students A-B Tech serves are broken into three categories, academic/curriculum based, continuing education and workforce training and adult education.

A-B Tech is a two-year program and anyone can attend the community college. Around 70% of A-B Tech students are first-generation college students, Glover previously told the Citizen Times.

Students attend on a semester basis and the academic year includes fall, spring and summer semesters.

The most recent full year of enrollment data for 2022-23 includes fall 2022 (6,122 students), spring 2023 (5,586) and summer 2023 (2,229), Glover said. The current enrollment for the fall of 2023 is 6,060.

Around 71% of these students are white, 14% are Hispanic or Latino and 5% are Black.

Hispanic enrollment has increased more than 10% in the last decade. About 61% of students enrolled are female and 38% male, according to Glover.

The most popular area of study is an associate in arts with more than 1,500 students enrolled in that major last year.

"In continuing education and workforce training, A-B Tech has provided short-term classes and workforce training for 21,525 people since January 2023. Some of the most popular classes are certified nurse assistant, clinical massage, truck driver training, and emergency services training," Glover said.

Warren Wilson College

Warren Wilson is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, just east of Asheville.

According to U.S. News and World Report in the fall of 2022 there were 793 students enrolled at Warren Wilson, 515 were female and 277 were male.

Almost 90% of Warren Wilson's student population live on campus or in a college-owned and operated building.

The college is a smaller community with a 10 to 1 student to faculty ratio, according to its website.

The college offers over 40 programs of study and was ranked as one of the best LGBTQ+ colleges in the country for 2023 with more than 50% of students identifying as queer, according to its website.

Some popular areas of study at Warren Wilson are natural sciences, art history, religious studies, philosophy, biology, physics, social work, teaching, psychology and sociology.

Western Carolina University

Western Carolina University, a part of the UNC system, currently has 11,628 students enrolled. Out of these, 6,892 are female and 4,736 are male, according to data collected from WCU.

Over 70% of these students are white, 6% are Black and 8% are Hispanic or Latino.

These numbers are similar to last year's enrollment with 11,635 students.

WCU is in Cullowhee about an hour's drive west of Asheville in Jackson County, with a 600-acre campus. The school has as 17 to 1 student to faculty ratio and offers over 120 undergraduate degrees and minors.

WCU is one of the original North Carolina Promise campuses, which launched in 2018 — allowing universities to offer reduced tuition rates.

WCU’s tuition is set by the N.C. General Assembly at $500 per semester for all N.C. undergraduates and $2,500 per semester for all out of state undergraduates.

Around 64% of all classes have fewer than 30 students, according to the school website.

WCU is recognized nationally for its nursing, education, forensic science, emergency management, entrepreneurship, engineering, project management and natural resources conservation programs.

The college of arts and sciences has been the most popular area of study for the past five years with 6,899 students are enrolled in that area for the 2023-24 school year, according to the school website.

More: U.S. News & World Report college rankings are out. Where did WNC schools rank?

More: UNC Asheville searches for a new chancellor; who's on the search committee?

McKenna Leavens is the education reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at mleavens@citizentimes.com or follow her on Twitter @LeavensMcKenna. Please support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: How many students attend Asheville colleges universities?