Graduate school may be a critical step in your higher education, whether you are interested in expanding your knowledge, learning a specialization, or earning advanced credentials required by your profession. The best graduate schools in North Carolina offer advanced degrees, such as master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as opportunities for independent research, mentorships, and professional networking.
Among these schools are over 60 public colleges and universities, including the state’s largest school, North Carolina State University, which serves almost 30,000 students. Tuition costs average about $9,000, just below the national average, and students also have the option to enroll in over 1,000 online courses. Another notable public school is the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is one of the country’s oldest universities.
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The 25,000 students who attend UNC will walk the same halls as Francis Collins, Thomas Wolfe, and former president James K. Polk. North Carolina’s private schools have also made a name for themselves, including the well-known Duke University located in Durham. Here, students can earn degrees in some of the top programs, like nursing, political science, and business. Additionally, students can attend one of the many small schools which serve less than 5,000 students, like Campbell University in Buies Creek, or a religiously affiliated school, like Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City.
From its coastal beaches to its lush forests, it’s no wonder the Wright Brothers dreamed of taking flight over North Carolina. This state is rich with history, scenic views, and famous people who once called it home, like John Coltrane and Nicholas Sparks. Students hoping to earn their associate, bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree also have the option of choosing from over 100 schools in the Tar Heel State.
Whether you prefer ocean views or wooded forests, North Carolina has something for everyone. Discover more about the state’s higher learning options.
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There are 16 doctorate-granting universities in North Carolina, 12 of which meet our criteria. The best graduate schools below are composed of both private and public schools that satisfy the following four conditions:
The people affiliated with a school are ultimately what make it great. This is why influence gets at the heart of what is truly best in education. At the undergraduate level, the best colleges and universities are those with the highest concentration of influence. Our Concentrated Influence metric adjusts overall influence by size of undergraduate student body, thus allowing smaller schools to compete with larger schools so long as they have proportionately as strong influential faculty and alums.
But at the graduate level, the combined influence score of a college or university’s top academic influencers is the best indicator of academic excellence. Overall influence, and not influence controlled by other variables, thus becomes the best gauge of academic excellence at the graduate level. Where smaller size is an advantage at the undergraduate level (hence Concentrated Influence), graduate studies benefit from a large and vibrant community of graduate students, who promise to become the new generation of academic influencers.
If you are serious about finding the best graduate schools, you should be asking where the most influential professors are teaching, and whether their graduates themselves are advancing the school’s reputation for academic excellence. Most ranking sites rely on an opaque combination of reputation surveys and arbitrary performance metrics. Influence, as measured by our InfluenceRanking engine, provides a ranking that is free from bias, insulated from manipulation, and reflective of real-world educational outcomes.
Find out more about our methodology here.
Less Tuition + fees
$58K
Acceptance
8%
Graduation
96%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1525/34
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Duke University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
25%
Graduation
91%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1405/30
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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$9K
Acceptance
46%
Graduation
84%
Student body
31K
Median SAT/ACT
1335/29
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North Carolina State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$55K
Acceptance
32%
Graduation
89%
Student body
8K
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Wake Forest University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
73%
Student body
19K
Median SAT/ACT
1185/25
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Appalachian State University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
80%
Graduation
65%
Student body
27K
Median SAT/ACT
1205/24
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University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
65%
Student body
25K
Median SAT/ACT
1115/22
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East Carolina University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
88%
Graduation
59%
Student body
18K
Median SAT/ACT
1095/22
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University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$7K
Acceptance
68%
Graduation
74%
Student body
15K
Median SAT/ACT
1245/24
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University of North Carolina Wilmington’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$4K
Acceptance
48%
Graduation
64%
Student body
11K
Median SAT/ACT
1110/22
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Western Carolina University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
77%
Graduation
69%
Student body
5K
Median SAT/ACT
1175/25
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High Point University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
Tuition + fees
$36K
Acceptance
73%
Graduation
49%
Student body
3K
Median SAT/ACT
1030/20
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Wingate University’s faculty and alumni have been influential in:
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