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UNC is unranked because it lacks computer engineering, which (unlike CS) has an undergraduate ranking. Both UNC and USC are ranked #20 for computer science.</p>
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Some of the faculty-student ratios used by USNWR seem a little off. Since it is noticeably larger than UNC, I suspect USC is including research faculty and/or excluding graduate students. I unfortunately can’t confirm that since it conceals its Common Data Set. </p>
<p>According to IPEDs, USC has 38,010 students and 3457 instructional faculty, so a ratio of 11:1. UNC has 29,137 students and 3646 instructional faculty, so a ratio of 8:1.</p>
<p>One can dig a little by looking at the tenure-track faculty numbers from the USC and UNC websites. USC has 1556 TT faculty, and UNC has 1948. From the same sources, USC has 40,000 students, and UNC has 29,278. The ratios of students to TT faculty are therefore 26:1 at USC and 15:1 at UNC. </p>
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Academics are a wash. Cost is in UNC’s favor. How do you feel about city life versus a college town?</p>