N.C. Gen. Stat. § 116-64

There is hereby established, and there shall be maintained, a school for the professional training of students having exceptional talent in the performing arts which shall be defined as an educational institution of the State, to serve the students of North Carolina and other states, particularly other states of the South. The school shall be designated the 'North Carolina School of the Arts, redesignated effective August 1, 2008, as the "University of North Carolina School of the Arts.'"