Photo: Adam Chivers (CC BY-SA 4.0)
School data & stats
Outcomes
Cost
Community
Overview
Lees-McRae College sits at roughly 4,000 feet in Banner Elk, North Carolina, one of the highest-elevation campuses east of the Mississippi, surrounded by Blue Ridge peaks and ski terrain. The setting is inseparable from the college's identity: outdoor recreation and mountain living shape both its academic offerings and everyday student culture.
Academics
Wildlife biology is the signature program, anchored by an on-campus wildlife rehabilitation center where students get direct animal-care and clinical experience rare at the undergraduate level. Outdoor recreation and equine studies draw on the same mountain setting, and the college also fields one of the country's more competitive collegiate cycling programs.
Campus & student life
Banner Elk is a small mountain town, and access to skiing, climbing, and whitewater is a defining part of student life rather than a weekend extra. The campus is small and residential, with a culture built around outdoor pursuits alongside more traditional college activities.
Getting in
Lees-McRae tends to draw students specifically seeking its wildlife biology, equine, or outdoor recreation programs, and admissions reviews look for genuine interest in those niches alongside academic preparation.
Worth knowing
The wildlife rehabilitation center is a hands-on differentiator few colleges can match, and the cycling program has produced nationally competitive riders - both are reasons students choose Lees-McRae over a larger, more general college.
Admissions
Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)
Applying
lmc.edu ↗High school coursework
Required4 units of English · 3 units of mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II or equivalent) · 2 units of science (including Biology with lab) · 1 unit of history (U.S. History preferred) · At least 18 high school units total
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