Colleges in North Carolina


North Carolina has 56 private and 17 public 4-year colleges that enroll 50,938 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $21,021 for in-state students and $33,669 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in North Carolina charge around $31,510 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2020-2021 academic year, North Carolina provided $61.2 million in financial aid to 17,034 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $351.4 million in grants and scholarships to 30,605 students.

North Carolina receives 2.9% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2020-2021 academic year, 20,451 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $101.1 million in pell grant ($4,865 per student on average), and 28,795 students received a total amount of $162.9 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($6,156 per student on average).

Net price Acceptance Rate Graduation Rate
Duke University 4 year $26,932 95.5% 7.7%
Davidson College 4 year $28,615 93.0% 20.0%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 4 year $10,038 90.7% 25.0%
Grace College of Divinity 4 year $11,548 90.0% 100.0%
Wake Forest University 4 year $26,324 88.7% 32.0%
North Carolina State University at Raleigh 4 year $14,600 83.9% 46.2%
Elon University 4 year $39,401 82.8% 71.7%
Southeastern College-Charlotte Less than 2 year $32,206 77.1% 100.0%
University of North Carolina Wilmington 4 year $17,946 73.5% 68.0%
Appalachian State University 4 year $10,687 72.7% 79.5%
University of North Carolina School of the Arts 4 year $11,940 72.2% 36.3%
High Point University 4 year $40,719 68.9% 77.0%
Salem College 4 year $19,128 66.0% 84.6%
Cabarrus College of Health Sciences 4 year $14,475 65.2% 35.4%
East Carolina University 4 year $15,403 65.2% 87.9%
University of North Carolina at Charlotte 4 year $16,029 65.2% 79.5%
Meredith College 4 year $25,357 63.7% 71.6%
Western Carolina University 4 year $13,221 63.6% 48.5%
University of North Carolina at Asheville 4 year $13,854 62.4% 79.4%
University of North Carolina at Greensboro 4 year $9,853 58.7% 87.5%
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