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Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina

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2023 Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

22 Colleges
$12,012 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$49,367 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education Master's Degree School for You

In 2020-2021, education students earned 7,730 degrees and certificates from a North Carolina school, making the subject the 4th in the state.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for students. With more and more schools offering online options, you could even register for a great program on the other side of the country. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools that offer fast-track entry to many fields.

The Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking is one of many tools that Course Advisor has developed to help you make your educational decision. This report analyzed 22 schools in North Carolina to see which ones offered the best value master's degree programs for education students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

This ranking is not just a list of inexpensive schools. We also consider each school's quality, since we believe a low-quality school may not be a 'bargain' at any price. More specifically, we discount our quality score by the published tuition and fees charged by a school. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The value is determined by how much quality your dollar buys.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. Average in-state tuition and fees are used for our statewide rankings.

2023 Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina

The following schools top our list of the Best Value Education Master's Degree Colleges.

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

Our 2023 rankings named East Carolina University the best value school in North Carolina for education students working on their master’s degree. ECU is a very large public school located in the city of Greenville.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at ECU are $7,594 a year.

Full Education at East Carolina University Report

A rank of #2 on this year’s list means University of North Carolina at Charlotte is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public college with a very large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNC Charlotte are $7,713 per year.

Full Education at University of North Carolina at Charlotte Report

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend Appalachian State University. The school came in at #3 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. Appalachian State is a fairly large public school located in the distant town of Boone.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Appalachian State are $8,007 a year.

Read More…

#4

Fayetteville State University

Fayetteville, NC

The excellent master’s degree programs at Fayetteville State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in North Carolina. Located in the midsize city of Fayetteville, Fayetteville State University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Fayetteville State University are $5,835 per year.

Read full report on Education at Fayetteville State University

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of North Carolina at Pembroke is a great value for education students working on their master’s degree. UNC Pembroke is a medium-sized public school located in the distant town of Pembroke.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNC Pembroke are $6,775 per year.

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With a ranking of #6, University of North Carolina at Greensboro did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Greensboro, UNC Greensboro is a public college with a large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UNC Greensboro are $8,265 a year.

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#7

Salem College

Winston-Salem, NC

Salem College landed the #7 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Salem is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.

Salem graduate students pay an average of $8,400 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at Salem College Report

With a ranking of #8, North Carolina Central University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Located in the city of Durham, North Carolina Central University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

North Carolina Central University graduate students pay an average of $7,641 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at North Carolina Central University

Western Carolina University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for education students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the distant town of Cullowhee, WCU is a public school with a large student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at WCU are $7,480 per year.

Read full report on Education at Western Carolina University

University of North Carolina at Wilmington ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Education Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. UNCW is a large public school located in the medium-sized city of Wilmington.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNCW are $7,514 per year.

Read full report on Education at University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Best Value Education Colleges in the Southeast Region

Explore all the Best Value Education Colleges in the Southeast Area or other specific states within that region.

State Degrees Awarded
West Virginia 1,515
South Carolina 3,980
Florida 10,069
Virginia 9,522
Arkansas 4,954
Mississippi 4,219
Louisiana 2,977
Alabama 5,059
Kentucky 5,329
Georgia 9,722
Tennessee 5,194

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Teacher Education Grade Specific 110,226
Educational Administration 46,469
Teacher Education Subject Specific 43,297
Special Education 36,792
General Education 29,810
Curriculum & Instruction 19,832
Student Counseling 13,858
Instructional Media Design 8,695
Teaching English or French 5,791
Other Education 4,858
Teaching Assistants 2,751
Educational Assessment 2,552
Multilingual Education 1,910
Education Philosophy 737
International Education 293

Related Major Annual Graduates
Social Sciences 205,984
Psychology 195,678
Communication & Journalism 120,571
Family, Consumer & Human Sciences 55,820
History 32,731

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 22 schools only.

  • The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
  • Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
  • Credit for the banner image above goes to Horadrim.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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