UNC announced two initiatives to help veterans navigate the sometimes complicated path into higher education.

Jim Gregory is the Director of Media Relations at UNC, but he is also a veteran of the US military and says announcements like the one made on Wednesday make him very proud.

“When you’re in the military, you’re thinking of ‘What’s the mission? What do I need to be doing to make sure that I’m doing my job?’ but stepping outside of that can be scary,” Gregory says. “This provides two concrete initiatives to help active-duty navigate this higher education process.”

The two initiatives are the hiring of a Student Veteran Assistance Coordinator at Carolina and the launch of a new program – UNC Core.

“That program is really a [UNC] system-wide initiative, but it’s led by [UNC] Chapel Hill. And it’s designed to accelerate higher-education opportunities for active-duty military in North Carolina,” Gregory says. “It involves self-paced and summer-based courses that take advantage of what’s already available out there.

“But it packages it in a way that helps them satisfy their general education requirements.”

Gregory says this is viewed as the first step for veterans who are not able to come to class on campus to complete a four-year degree online.

He adds the newly created position will provide a singular point of contact for veterans who are taking courses.

“That is a position that will report to the Dean of Students. It’ll be filled this summer. They’re looking at candidates now,” Gregory says. “That person will work with others within the dean’s office, around the university, state, [and] local organizations to help veterans navigate the higher education process.

“It’s not always easy to know what’s out there [and] what’s available. And I can speak as a veteran myself, it’s a complex environment.”

The goal of the initiatives is to streamline the communication and accessibility for veterans to migrate into higher education.

The UNC Core program is open to all military members and will be housed in the Friday Center for Continuing Education. More information on that program is available here.

These initiatives are in addition to programs already in place for veterans at UNC including online MBA programs, physician assistant degrees, and the Warrior Scholarship Project.

Related Stories
‹
UNC's THRIVE Program Using New Home to Help More Veterans
The Matthew Gfeller Center at UNC is known for its leading research on head trauma and injuries for athletes. But the center is now building up a new program to help out a piece of our population: veterans. The THRIVE Program, or Transforming Health and Resilience in Veterans, recently moved to its own, […]
UNC Will Provide Outreach Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injuries
UNC will establish a new accessible treatment program for military veterans with traumatic brain injuries, thanks to a $12.5 million gift.
UNC Opens Veterans Resource Center
UNC opened the Carolina Veterans Resource Center, or CVRC, last week to serve and support their nearly 500 students affiliated with the military. The facility will house a study space, a lounge, conference and meeting space and a lactation room. UNC Chancellor Carol Folt credited the students for being instrumental with the development of the […]
UNC Officials Discuss Surgical Towers and Campus Development
Plans for new surgical towers at UNC Hospitals were presented by university representatives to the Chapel Hill Town Council during a business meeting held earlier in the week. The presentation was made by Anna Wu, the associate vice chancellor for facilities services, who noted that the proposed location of the towers has been modified. “The […]
UNC Hoping New Orientation Will Help Veterans Transition from Military to College Student
A new program for veterans at UNC, called “Boot Print to Heel Print,” follows a series of other steps the university has taken to support military personnel. This latest program seeks to ease the veteran’s transition to college life, something that Amber Mathwig experienced first hand. “I made mistakes and I made it hard on […]
UNC's Luka Bogavac to Enter Transfer Portal After 1 Season
After one season in Chapel Hill, UNC wing Luka Bogavac is entering his name into the transfer portal. Bogavac’s journey to Carolina was a long one. After committing to the Tar Heels during the summer, the Montenegrin national dealt with eligibility issues which kept him out of UNC’s two exhibition contests. He was eventually cleared […]
UNC Finishes South Building Roof Repair Project, Shares Details on New Touches
South Building's roof replacement, which began last May, wrapped up last month. UNC recently shared more details on its final touches.
Tracking Which UNC Men's Basketball Players Have Entered the 2026 Transfer Portal
The NCAA men’s basketball transfer portal opened Tuesday, April 7, the day after the national championship game. Following UNC head coach Hubert Davis’ dismissal on March 24, several Tar Heels have entered their names into the portal and pursue other opportunities. Here’s a list of which players have either made announcements or are reported to […]
Oklahoma State Transfer Achol Akot Commits to UNC Women's Basketball
Achol Akot, who spent the 2025-26 season with Oklahoma State, announced her commitment to head coach Courtney Banghart and UNC out of the transfer portal Friday. Akot will have one year of eligibility remaining. View this post on Instagram Before Oklahoma State, Akot spent the first two seasons of her collegiate career at UCF. She […]
UNC Women's Lacrosse Beats No. 7 Stanford, Clinches ACC Regular-Season Title
Chloe Humphrey tied a career high with eight goals as No. 2 UNC beat No. 7 Stanford 18-9 at Dorrance Field Friday night to clinch the outright ACC regular season title for the second consecutive year. That’s a dub + a trophy 🏆 The Heels are your ACC Regular Season Champions!#GoHeels x @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/ffY2oveVdl — […]
›