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Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina

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2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

77 Colleges
$2,375 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$65,879 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was ranked 3rd in North Carolina. In fact, 7,425 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You can choose a traditional brick and mortar school, or with the growth of online education, you can attend a school half-way across the country without even leaving your house. Also there are many trade schools that offer short-term programs that open up more career options.

The Best Value Nursing 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 77 schools in North Carolina to see which ones offered the best value programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

When determining this ranking, we place a high emphasis on the school's quality as well as its sticker price. Even though a college may be affordable, it may not offer value. 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.

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

2023 Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for nursing majors pursuing a .

Top 15% Best Nursing Schools

#1

Craven Community College

New Bern, NC

Our 2023 rankings named Craven Community College the best value school in North Carolina for nursing students. Located in the city of New Bern, Craven Community College is a public college with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Craven Community College are $2,022 a year. After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Craven Community College carry an average student debtload of $10,791.

Full Nursing at Craven Community College Report

#2

Pitt Community College

Winterville, NC
$1,940 Average Tuition & Fees

The excellent programs at Pitt Community College helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in North Carolina. Pitt Community College is a moderately-sized public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Winterville.

Pitt Community College undergraduate students pay an average of $1,940 in in-state tuition and fees each year. Nursing majors at Pitt Community College take out an average of $19,250 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read full report on Nursing at Pitt Community College

The excellent programs at South Piedmont Community College helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best nursing schools in North Carolina. South Piedmont Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Polkton.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at South Piedmont Community College are $2,015 a year. Nursing majors at South Piedmont Community College take out an average of $11,000 in student loans while working on their egree.

As a testament to the quality of education it offers, South Piedmont Community College also is in the top 15% of our Best Nursing Schools in North Carolina ranking.

Read full report on Nursing at South Piedmont Community College

#4

College of the Albemarle

Elizabeth City, NC
$2,228 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #4 on this year’s list means College of the Albemarle is a great value for nursing students. College of the Albemarle is a small public school located in the town of Elizabeth City.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at College of the Albemarle are $2,228 a year. After completing their degree, nursing graduates from College of the Albemarle carry an average student debtload of $5,875.

Read More…

$2,152 Average Tuition & Fees

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Forsyth Technical Community College is a great value for nursing students. Forsyth Tech is a medium-sized public school located in the midsize city of Winston-Salem.

Forsyth Tech undergraduate students pay an average of $2,152 in in-state tuition and fees each year. On average, nursing graduates from Forsyth Tech take out $16,634 in student loans while working on their degree.

Read More…

$1,944 Average Tuition & Fees

Vance-Granville Community College ranked #6 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina list. Vance-Granville Community College is a small public school located in the town of Henderson.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Vance-Granville Community College are $1,944 per year. Nursing majors at Vance-Granville Community College take out an average of $8,251 in student loans while working on their egree.

Read More…

$1,926 Average Tuition & Fees

McDowell Technical Community College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best value schools for nursing students. It came in at #7 on the list. McDowell Technical Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Marion.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at McDowell Technical Community College are $1,926 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at McDowell Technical Community College

With a ranking of #8, Alamance Community College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. Located in the rural area of Graham, ACC is a public college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at ACC are $2,310 per year.

ACC excels when it comes to quality. It’s ranked in the top 20% of all schools on our Best Nursing Schools in North Carolina list.

Read full report on Nursing at Alamance Community College

$2,226 Average Tuition & Fees

Davidson County Community College ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina list. Located in the rural area of Thomasville, DCCC is a public school with a small student population.

DCCC undergraduate students pay an average of $2,226 in in-state tuition and fees each year. While working on their degree, nursing majors at DCCC accumulate an average of around $14,000 in student debt.

Full Nursing at Davidson County Community College Report

$2,532 Average Tuition & Fees

Brunswick Community College landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value nursing programs. Brunswick Community College is a small public school located in the rural area of Bolivia.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Brunswick Community College are $2,532 per year. After completing their degree, nursing graduates from Brunswick Community College carry an average student debtload of $8,127.

Read full report on Nursing at Brunswick Community College

#11

Gaston College

Dallas, NC

With a ranking of #11, Gaston College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students. Gaston College is a small public school located in the medium-sized suburb of Dallas.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Gaston College are $2,862 a year. The average amount in student loans that nursing majors at Gaston College take out is $10,750.

Full Nursing at Gaston College Report

Additional Noteworthy Schools

These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Value Nursing Schools in North Carolina award.

Rank College Location
12 Guilford Technical Community College Jamestown, NC
13 Richmond Community College Hamlet, NC
14 Central Piedmont Community College Charlotte, NC
15 Durham Technical Community College Durham, NC

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Georgia 7,112
Virginia 6,775
Florida 21,209
Tennessee 6,004
Kentucky 6,395
South Carolina 3,296
Louisiana 3,502
Arkansas 2,882
Alabama 7,364
Mississippi 2,838
West Virginia 1,771

Nursing is one of 30 different types of programs to choose from.

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 25 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 Aleksahgabrielle.

More about our data sources and methodologies.

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