North Carolina State University Overview
North Carolina State University is a public institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The location of the school is great for students who enjoy the amenities of city life.
What Is North Carolina State University Known For?
- Students at NC State have an easier time paying back their loans. The school's student loan default rate is only 3%, compared to the national rate of 10.1%.
- The highest award offered at NC State is the doctor's degree.
- In 2017-2018, 87% of the faculty were full-time.
- After graduation, NC State bachelor's degree recipients go on to jobs where they make $52,500 a year. That's about 29% more than their peers at other schools.
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North Carolina State University Rankings
We have ranked NC State as #201 out of 2,587 colleges and universities in the country in our 2022 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation. Out of the 113 colleges in North Carolina, it is ranked at #6.
Our rankings are based on an outcomes-based approach rather than subjective ones used by other media outlets. As such, we utilize data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the College Scorecard, among other sources. Visit our rankings and methodology section to learn more.
NC State has also been awarded the following overall awards by our latest rankings.
Rank | Ranking Name | Share |
---|---|---|
#54 | Best Graduate Certificate Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#58 | Best Associate Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#157 | Best Master’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
#199 | Best Bachelor’s Degree Schools | Tweet It - Post It |
Program Level Awards
These are highlights of some of the most noteworthy awards granted to specific programs at NC State.
Awards From Around the Web
The following table lists some notable awards NC State has earned from around the web.
Rank | Ranking Name | Source |
---|---|---|
#1 | Best Forestry Schools | College Factual |
#1 | Best Textile Engineering Schools | College Factual |
#22 | Best Liberal Arts / Sciences & Humanities Schools | College Factual |
#22 | Best Parks, Recreation, Leisure, & Fitness Studies Schools | College Factual |
#88 | Best Business, Management & Marketing Schools | College Factual |
#172 | Best Business Schools | Business Degree Central |
Where Is North Carolina State University?

Contact details for NC State are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 2101 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27695-7001 |
Phone: | 919-515-2011 |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ncstate |
Twitter: | http://www.twitter.com/ncstate |
How Do I Get Into NC State?
You can apply to NC State online at: commonapp.org/
Admission Requirements for NC State
Submission | Required? |
---|---|
High School GPA | recommended |
High School Rank | recommended |
High School Transcript | required |
College Prep Program | required |
Recommendations | neither required nor recommended |
SAT or ACT Scores | required |
TOEFL | required |
How Hard Is It To Get Into NC State?
Approximately 46% of accepted students are men and 54% are women. The acceptance rate for men is 43%, and the acceptance rate for women is 49%.
Average Test Scores
About 49% of students accepted to NC State submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 610 and 690. Math scores were between 620 and 720.
Can I Afford North Carolina State University?
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.
Student Loan Debt
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At NC State, approximately 42% of students took out student loans averaging $7,042 a year. That adds up to $28,168 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at NC State is 2.9%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
North Carolina State University Undergraduate Student Diversity

There are also 9,892 graduate students at the school.
Gender Diversity
Of the 22,929 full-time undergraduates at NC State, 51% are male and 49% are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity
The racial-ethnic breakdown of North Carolina State University students is as follows.

Race/Ethnicity | Number of Grads |
---|---|
Asian | 1,826 |
Black or African American | 1,368 |
Hispanic or Latino | 1,539 |
White | 15,731 |
International Students | 704 |
Other Races/Ethnicities | 1,761 |
Geographic Diversity
North Carolina students aren't the only ones who study at North Carolina State University. At this time, 42 states are represented by the student population at the school.
Over 103 countries are represented at NC State. The most popular countries sending students to the school are India, China, and South Korea.
Online Learning at North Carolina State University
The following chart shows how the online learning population at NC State has changed over the last few years.

This school is the 4th most popular in North Carolina for online learning according to the online graduations recorded by the Department of Education for the academic year 2019-2020.
Online Affordability Rankings of NC State
The following table shows how NC State is ranked for affordability for both in-state and out-of-state students among colleges and universities that are not mostly online.
Online Growth Rankings of NC State
The average growth rate over the last four years of online students at North Carolina State University was 59.0%. This is the #600 largest growth rate of all schools that are only partially online. This refers to all students at NC State regardless of major.
The following table shows the 1-year growth rate of NC State majors that offer at least one online course. This table only includes majors with positive growth.
The table below shows how the average growth rate over 4 years at NC State ranks compared to all other partially online schools that offer a specific major. Note that the majors may or may not be offered online at NC State.
When we speak of partially online, we are referring to schools whose online population is less than 50% of its total student body. Mostly online refers to those with online populations greater than or equal to 50%.
North Carolina State University Undergraduate Concentrations
The table below shows the number of awards for each concentration.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- National Center for Education Statistics
- Image Credit: By Haruhide000 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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