Welcome to our annual guide to the state’s higher education sector. North Carolina has 16 public universities, with its largest, NC State University in Raleigh, enrolling more than 37,000 students. The smallest is the UNC School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, which has about 1,075 undergraduate students. Also, the state is home to 58 private institutions and 58 community colleges, for a total of 132 different institutions.
This list, compiled from data from the UNC System and the National Center for Education Statistics, looks beyond enrollment figures. It also lists overall costs, including tuition, fees and room and board, where applicable, based on the 2023-24 school year, plus the average financial aid awarded at each institution (based on the 2022-2023 school year).
For public university overall costs, NC State tops the list at $26,604, compared with $24,986 the year before, for in-state students. For out-of-state students, UNC Chapel Hill is the most expensive, with a price tag of $56,450, compared with $52,633.
Since 2016, the Board of Governors has kept tuition rates flat for resident undergraduates at its 16 universities. Housing, food and other fees have increased, however.
Wake Forest University and Duke University top the private schools with estimated costs of $87,556 and $87,072, respectively. During the previous year, both schools’ costs were slightly less than $80,000. Duke provides an average financial aid award of $53,004, compared with $46,077 at Wake Forest. Duke University also provides full-tuition grants to undergrads from North Carolina and South Carolina whose families have a total income of $150,000 or less; if family income is $65,000 or less, Duke will also provide other financial assistance.
This list also describes acceptance rates; student-faculty ratios; gender ratio for full-time undergraduate students; and the percentage of diverse students, based on non-white students enrolled in the fall of 2023.
The overall retention rates refer to full-time students who began in the fall of 2022 and returned in 2023. Graduation rates track the progress of full-time students who entered school in fall 2017 to see if they completed a degree within 150% of “normal time,” typically six years.
Community college statistics are for fall of 2023. The list also provides information on the 31 colleges and universities offering MBA programs, including online options.
Click here to see the full directory of North Carolina higher education for 2025.
* N.C. Promise Tuition Plan ** no on-campus housing.
Enrollment for 2023-24 school year.