Though there had already been a proposal to make Asheville-Biltmore College a four-year
university before Highsmith became president, without his help, the college probably would not have been granted four-year university status. Highsmith pushed for the change and even had a personal meeting with the governor, Senator Bob Reynolds. In this meeting Highsmith
convinced the Governor that Asheville-Biltmore College needed to become a four-year
university. The next step was gaining the approval of the Board of Higher Education and the General Assembly. On May 10, 1963, the Omnibus Higher Education Act of 1963 was passed, allowing the college to become a four-year institution under a new Board of Trustees. On July 1, 1963, all legal documents for all school property, including land and building titles, and all money within the university transferred to the state of North Carolina; the institution officially
became a state-funded university. The next year was spent developing academic programs and recruiting faculty to meet the required higher standards.
The first baccalaureate degrees were awarded in June of 1966. Full accreditation as a four-year institution was granted in late 1967, retroactive to the graduating classes of 1966 and 1967, and in 1969, Asheville-Biltmore College became the University of North Carolina at Asheville, one of six members of the Consolidated University. Later that year, the ten
remaining state-supported institutions were merged into a unified sixteen-campus University of North Carolina.
