Wake Forest University is making Charlotte history with a brand-new academic campus opening this summer, anchored by the city’s first-ever four-year medical school.

The expansion is part of a new development located at The Pearl: Midtown’s $1.5 billion multi-use innovation district. It will include dedicated research and education centers, plus other WFU Schools.

Medical milestone

Charlotte has been the largest city in the U.S. without a four-year medical school for years now.

That all changes in August when the School of Medicine will welcome the inaugural class of 48 students to the Howard R. Levine Center for Education. (Class sizes will expand over time, eventually growing to 100 students, for a total of 400 medical students enrolled at any given time.)

Students will experience:

State-of-the-art facilities, equipped for advanced medical training and research.
Proximity to IRCAD: A world-renowned French surgical-training institute, opening its four-floor North American headquarters at The Pearl.
Collaboration opportunities with Connect Labs, which offers prebuilt lab and office space for small biotech companies that need access to specialized equipment + personnel. Talk about helpful neighbors.

Education across disciplines

Wake Forest also plans to relocate its Charlotte-based MBA program and School of Professional Studies from Uptown to The Pearl, giving working professionals even more ways to upskill and connect.

The new campus is specifically designed to encourage collaboration between students and faculty across these varying industries.

The School of Professional Studies will continue offering 100% online programs, with in-person courses and events potentially on the horizon.

Statewide strategy

Looking at the big picture, this strategic expansion will further strengthen Wake Forest’s growing Innovation Corridor, bridging the Winston-Salem location with its new CLT campus.

The result? A supercharged network driving talent, research, and entrepreneurship across NC.

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