·Private·Est. 1889
“A small private university in North Carolina built around 'engaged learning' — every Elon student graduates with study abroad, internships, undergraduate research and mentored leadership built into the degree.”
Elon University is a private, mid-sized residential university tucked into a 656-acre arboretum-like campus in Elon, North Carolina, halfway between Greensboro and Raleigh-Durham. Founded in 1889, Elon has built a national reputation for the 'Elon Experiences' — a deliberate package of mentored undergraduate research, internships, leadership, service and study abroad that every undergraduate participates in before they graduate. U.S. News consistently cites Elon among the very best in the country for undergraduate teaching, learning communities, study abroad and senior capstone experiences. Academically, Elon centers on the College of Arts and Sciences, the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business (AACSB-accredited), the School of Communications (one of only ~18 ACEJMC-accredited private programs in the U.S.), and growing Schools of Education, Health Sciences and Law. Popular majors include Strategic Communications, Finance, Marketing, Cinema & Television Arts, Psychology, Biology and Sport Management. The School of Communications, in particular, draws applicants nationally with its industry-grade studios, immersive 'fellows' programs and strong placement at major media employers. The campus culture is famously close-knit and outdoorsy — students hammock between live oaks on the Loy Center quad, attend Phoenix Phridays, run College Coffee every Tuesday morning (a 35-year tradition where the entire community gathers between classes), and travel internationally as part of January-term Winter Term courses. Elon is consistently a top-five U.S. university for the percentage of undergraduates who study abroad. International students form a smaller community (~2% of undergrads) but receive concentrated, individualized support through the Center for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity Education and the Isabella Cannon Global Education Center.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Undergraduate Teaching
US News 2026
Study Abroad
US News 2026
Learning Communities
US News 2026
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceThe deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$44,900
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Elon's foundational liberal-arts core; spans humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and houses the largest share of majors and the famed undergraduate research program.
AACSB-accredited business school combining a strong analytics/finance core with hallmark experiential offerings — Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the Student Professional Development Center, and a lock-step real-world consulting capstone.
ACEJMC-accredited and nationally distinctive: students choose among Journalism, Strategic Communications, Cinema & Television Arts, Communication Design, Media Analytics, and Sport & Event Management — taught in industry-grade Snow and Schar Hall facilities.
Houses the highly ranked Doctor of Physical Therapy and Master of Physician Assistant Studies programs, plus an undergraduate Exercise Science track that feeds clinical graduate programs.
Teacher-prep programs with strong NC public-school placement and a unique Teaching Fellows pipeline.
4 years
Elon's signature undergraduate program — hands-on integrated marketing, PR, social and brand work taught in a real working agency model. Strong national recruiting from major comms firms.
4 years
Production-focused film/TV degree with industry-grade soundstages, the Elon-in-LA semester, and Sundance-trained faculty.
4 years
Bloomberg-equipped trading room, embedded internship requirement, and a Charlotte/NYC alumni network for finance and consulting placement.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $46,958
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
