North Carolina
'Smoking-Gun' Data on North Carolina ACT Scores — Minding The Campus
Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from an article originally published by The James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal on June 6, 2024. It is crossposted here with permission.
Earlier this year, the UNC Board of Governors approved a new system-wide admissions policy requiring standardized tests only for students whose high school GPAs are less than 2.8. This comes after years of testing waivers that began in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the limited availability of tests.
The new policy provides an important additional metric for many schools in the UNC System. But it is meaningless at the two most competitive public institutions. I wrote at the time:
[T]he new policy would make the System’s most competitive schools—UNC-Chapel Hill and [NC State]—effectively test optional. This would make it harder for admissions officers to make distinctions between the thousands of students whose GPAs qualify them for admission. At UNC-Chapel Hill, for example, 95 percent of freshmen admitted in fall 2022 had a GPA of 4.0 or higher. None had a GPA of less than 2.99. Admissions officers would be forced to rely on more subjective and less reliable admission criteria such as personal essays and letters of recommendation.
New data confirm that the policy is indeed inadequate.
During the pandemic-era test-optional period, many students who attended public high schools in North Carolina still took the ACT during their junior years, as required by North Carolina law. This set up an interesting natural experiment since the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction collected these ACT scores from high schools and shared them with the UNC System. Therefore, we know the ACT scores of all public university students who applied to UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State during the test-waiver period, regardless of whether they submitted those scores for use in the admissions process.
Photo by lexiconimages — Adobe Stock — Asset ID#: 308563662
North Carolina
Caleb Wilson leads No. 12 North Carolina to season-high point total in 99-51 rout of East Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Caleb Wilson had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 12 North Carolina had its highest point total of the season in a 99-51 victory over East Carolina on Monday night.
Wilson also had four blocks and three steals, while Henri Veesaar finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Luka Bogavac added 15 points and Seth Trimble scored 12 for the Tar Heels (12-1), who hit 12 3-pointers and shot 54% from the field.
Gio Emejuru finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds for ECU (5-8). Jordan Riley, who came in averaging a team-high 21.7 points, scored a season-low 11 on 4-of-24 shooting.
ECU missed its first seven shots and went 5:46 without a field goal. Offense came easily for the Tar Heels, who rolled into halftime up 49-26 while shooting 58.6%.
The Tar Heels stretched their lead to 50 points in the second half.
Trimble was playing his first home game since breaking his left forearm in a Nov. 9 weight room accident. The senior guard returned with 17 points in Saturday’s 71-70 victory over Ohio State in Atlanta.
North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson (8) goes in for a dunk during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against East Carolina, Monday, Dec. 22, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. Credit: AP/Chris Seward
The win was UNC’s 52nd straight over an in-state, non-Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.
Up next
East Carolina: Hosts Tulane on Dec. 31 in American Conference opener.
North Carolina: Hosts Florida State on Dec. 30 to begin ACC play.
North Carolina
Lower gas prices and open roads create ideal holiday travel conditions for NC travelers
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS0 — Nearly 3.7 million North Carolinians are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the 13-day year-end holiday period that started on Saturday, Dec. 20.
Thaissa Braga, a Florida resident who traveled by car to spend the holidays in Asheville.
WHITE CHRISTMAS UNLIKELY FOR MANY IN U.S. WITH WARM TEMPERATURES IN HOLIDAY FORECAST
“We thought we needed snow tires for the wheels and stuff, but it wasn’t anything like that. It was smooth sailing, not many accidents along the way. We did leave at 4:30 in the morning, so that was a little crazy, but it was worth it,” Braga said.
One plus for anyone traveling by car to their holiday destination this year is that gas prices are lower than they were last year, with the national average dipping below $3 per gallon for the first time in four years.
According to the same AAA report, which anticipates nearly 3.7 million North Carolinians traveling over the year-end holiday period, it also says that most of them travel by car.
DEC. 21, 2025 – Nearly 3.7 million North Carolinians are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the 13-day year-end holiday period that started on Saturday, Dec. 20. (Photo: WLOS Staff)
To help drivers get to their destinations safely and on time, the North Carolina Department of Transportation removed all lane closures where possible across the state through Jan. 2.
However, David Uchiyama with NCDOT says there are some areas in western North Carolina where the lane closures must remain in place, like the stretch of Interstate 40 going through the Pigeon River Gorge.
“It’s open with one lane in each direction, a 35-mile-an-hour speed limit, narrow shoulders,” said David Uchiyama, the Western Communications Manager with NCDOT.
Uchiyama is reminding drivers to plan their trips ahead of time, and he says one helpful resource is drivenc.gov.
DEC. 21, 2025 – Nearly 3.7 million North Carolinians are expected to travel at least 50 miles from home over the 13-day year-end holiday period that started on Saturday, Dec. 20. (Photo: WLOS Staff)
One person who planned for her trip is Asheville resident Emily Lamb; however, she’s flying instead of driving to visit her family in Ohio.
“Preparing for this trip looked like calculating my PTO for one. And then really comparing plane ticket prices and timing of things. And overall, just being intentional with any gifts I take home,” Lamb said.
According to the AAA report, over 200,000 of the North Carolina Holiday travelers will travel by plane.
ASHEVILLE REGIONAL AIRPORT SHARES HOLIDAY TRAVEL TIPS AMID ONGOING RENOVATIONS
The Asheville Airport published holiday travel tips online, telling people to make a parking plan before arriving at the airport.
A helpful resource is their website, which has a map of their parking areas.
North Carolina
Life-threatening injuries reported after shooting on I-73 South near Wendover Avenue, Greensboro police say
GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — One person was left with life-threatening injuries in an overnight shooting Sunday, according to the Greensboro Police Department.
At 12:52 a.m., officers responded to a man down call at Interstate 73 South just before the Wendover Avenue exit and found one shooting victim with life-threatening injuries. They were taken to a local hospital.
I-73 South at Wendover Avenue was closed following the shooting. As of 10:22 a.m. Sunday, the road is still closed.
No suspect information was available.
The investigation is ongoing.
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