Students have the ability to earn their college degrees from wherever they choose due to the increased popularity on online college. College and universities throughout the country have been adding online degrees and programs to their curriculum – online colleges in North Carolina are no exception. Technology has played a major role in the increased popularity of online college. For more information on the best online colleges and universities in the United States, check out our rankings .
Over the last couple of years, the value of an online degree has increased. This can be attributed to the fact that the overall popularity of online degrees has also increased. More colleges and universities are adding online degrees which gives students more options when considering online college. Most companies no longer discrimate against students who earned their degrees online. Check out our rankings for the best online colleges in North Carolina below.
List of Best Online Colleges in North Carolina
North Carolina Central University
- $3,728 In-State Tuition
- $16,435 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 47% Acceptance Rate
Western Carolina University
- $1,000 In-State Tuition
- $5,000 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 40% Acceptance Rate
East Carolina University
- $4,452 In-State Tuition
- $20,729 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 82% Acceptance Rate
University of North Carolina Wilmington
- $4,443 In-State Tuition
- $18,508 Out-Of-State Tuition
- 61% Acceptance Rate
When looking at various online colleges and their programs, the criteria for evaluating them will be a little different versus looking at traditional colleges. Some of the criteria we used in our rankings for the best online colleges in North Carolina included retention rates, graduation rates, and percentage of students that are actually enrolled in online courses.
It was important for our team to rank the online portion of these colleges and universities. As online college has become more popular, more and more schools have added online programs. Our team picked factors that specifically looked at the online aspect of these colleges and universities. An example of this would be looking at the percentage of students who are enrolled in online courses at their respective colleges and universities.
When ranking the best online colleges in North Carolina, we only included public 4-year universities or private 4-year, not-for-profit colleges. We also only included online colleges that offered at least 2 completely online undergraduate degrees. Check out our rankings of the best online colleges in North Carolina below.
Sort and Expand Tables
Feel free to sort the tables below based on the criteria most important to you. Expand the tables to see the full rankings for the best online colleges in North Carolina.
Best Online Colleges in North Carolina
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The Best of the Best
The above table is our rankings for the best online colleges in North Carolina. The list takes into account numerous academic, affordability, and online factors. All data for the list was collected from the National Center for Education. We weighted various factors differently based on their importance to an online education and online experience. If you are more concerned with academic factors or affordability factors, check out our rankings of online colleges based solely off academic factors or affordability factors.
These rankings should be used as a resource for students thinking about pursuing an online education. Students should use our list as a basis for conducting their own research. We assigned specific weights to various factors we considered important for online colleges – what we consider important may not be as important to you. Use this guide as a way to narrow down your search for the best online colleges in North Carolina. Read below for some more information on the top 5 online colleges in North Carolina from our rankings.
North Carolina Central University
North Carolina Central is located in Durham, North Carolina and was founded in 1909. North Carolina Central is a public university and is categorized as a Historically Black College and University (HBCU). There are currently 2,521 students enrolled at North Carolina Central University. NCCU offers 9 online bachelors programs and 11 online masters programs. It should come as no surprise that NCCU is ranked as our best online college in North Carolina as they were also ranked in the top 10 for best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 9
- Masters Programs Offered – 11
- Graduation Rate – 43%
- Retention Rate – 82%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 78%
- % Students Admitted- 47%
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University is located in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The school is a public university and is apart of the University of North Carolina system. WCU currently has an enrollment of 11,639. The school currently has about 17% of its students enrolled in online classes. WCU offers 7 online bachelors programs and 10 online masters programs. Some of the online masters programs they offer include construction management, entrepreneurship, human resources, and project management.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 7
- Masters Programs Offered – 10
- Graduation Rate – 57%
- Retention Rate – 80%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 68%
- % Students Admitted- 40%
East Carolina University
East Carolina University is located in Greenville, North Carolina. The school is a public university and is the 4th largest university in North Carolina. ECU offers the most online programs of any colleges or universities in the state of North Carolina that we looked at. ECU offers 19 online bachelors programs and 38 online masters programs. Some of their online bachelors programs include various business programs, communications, education, and industrial technology. ECU was ranked number 11 on our list of best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 19
- Masters Programs Offered – 38
- Graduation Rate – 61%
- Retention Rate – 81%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 51%
- % Students Admitted- 82%
University of North Carolina Wilmington
University of North Carolina Wilmington is also part of the University of North Carolina system. The school is a public research university and is located in Wilmington, North Carolina. The school currently has an enrollment of 16,747. UNC Wilmington currenlty offers 8 online bachelors programs and 14 online masters programs. Some of the various online masters programs they offer include business administration, business analytics, chemistry, education, and school administration. UNC Wilmington was ranked number 13 on our list of best online colleges and universities in the United States.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 8
- Masters Programs Offered – 14
- Graduation Rate – 72%
- Retention Rate – 83%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 49%
- % Students Admitted- 61%
University of North Carolina at Charlotte
University of North Carolina Charlotte is a public research university located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school currently has an enrollment of 29,710. UNC Charlotte is recognized as a very innovative school for the number of start-up businesses they have produced. The school currently offers 6 online bachelors programs and 11 online masters programs.
Fast Facts
- Bachelors Programs Offered – 6
- Masters Programs Offered – 11
- Graduation Rate – 57%
- Retention Rate – 82%
- % Students Receiving Financial Aid – 50%
- % Students Admitted- 67%
Most Affordable Online Colleges in North Carolina
We decided that just having the complete ranking for online colleges in North Carolina was not enough. The rankings below are based solely off affordability factors. Some of the main factors we used when compiling this list included in-state tuition, out-of-state tuition, and the percentage of students who received any sort of financial aid. Check out the table below to see which schools offer the most affordable online programs in North Carolina.
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Best Academic Online Colleges in North Carolina
If you are like most students, academics are important to you. Our rankings below only take into consideration academic factors. With more schools adding online programs, the quality of online education continues to increase. In the past, online programs may have been dismissed as being too easy – not anymore. As technology has improved, so has the online learning experience. Click though our rankings below to see the best academic online colleges in North Carolina.
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Rankings
Our online college rankings for the state of North Carolina took a lot of different criteria into consideration. We only looked at 4-year public colleges or universities and 4-year private, not-for-profit colleges. We also only considered schools that offered at least 2 undergraduate online programs.
After compiling a list of colleges that met the above criteria, we looked at various factors that we felt were important when ranking online colleges. We looked at retention rates, graduation rates, tuition, financial aid, number of online course offerings, and other various online college factors.
Online College FAQS
According to our findings, the most affordable online college in North Carolina is Piedmont International University. Piedmont has an in-state tuition of $9100 and has 97% of their students receiving some sort of financial aid. UNC Pembroke is also very affordable with an in-state tuition of $1000.
North Carolina is home to numerous online colleges and universities that ranked in our best online colleges and universities in the United States. North Carolina Central University was the top ranked online college in North Carolina. As well as being the top ranked school in North Carolina, it was also ranked number 7 nationally.
According to our findings, East Carolina University offers the most online degrees. ECU currently offers 19 online bachelors degrees and 38 online masters degrees. This was by far the most online degrees offered by any online college in North Carolina.