2023 Best Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina
There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. As online education oppotunities continue to grow, you're not restricted to just schools in your local area anymore. Even some of the 'big name' schools are offering online courses. On top of that, there are a considerable number of trade schools and bootcamp that offer fast-track entry to many fields.
To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Course Advisor has created its Best Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. Our analysis looked at 30 schools in North Carolina to see which master's degree programs offered the best educational experiences for students. To come up with a school's ranking, we analyzed numerous factors related to post-graduation wages, the quality of education offered by the school, average accumulated student debt, and more.
View our full ranking methodology.
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Top Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina
Learn more about these excellent schools below:
Our 2023 rankings named Duke University the best school in North Carolina for students working on their master’s degree.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Duke does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. During the 2019-2020 year, about 2% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
The excellent master’s degree programs at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best schools in North Carolina.
One thing to take note of is that UNC Chapel Hill does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In 2019-2020 about 77% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
A rank of #3 on this year’s list means Wake Forest University is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
Wake Forest University does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 67% took at least some of their classes online.
Out of the 30 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, North Carolina State University landed the # 4 spot on the list.
NC State does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 78% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
A rank of #5 on this year’s list means Elon University is a great place for students working on their master’s degree.
High Point University landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at High Point. In 2019-2020 about 12% of the graduate students at the school chose to take one or more online courses.
With a ranking of #7, Wingate University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at Wingate. During the 2019-2020 year, about 18% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Appalachian State University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
Appalachian State does offer online graduate classes for certain degree levels. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 86% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Queens University of Charlotte came in at #9 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
One thing to take note of is that Queens does offer online graduate classes in some areas. In fact, around 100% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Lenoir - Rhyne University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
Lenoir - Rhyne University does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 42% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
Campbell University came in at #11 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at Campbell. During the 2019-2020 year, about 4% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
With a ranking of #12, East Carolina University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Some students may be able to take online graduate classes at ECU. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 80% took at least some of their classes online.
Salem College did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #13 on the list.
Since the graduate programs at Salem are online, the school is an excellent choice for graduate students who need more flexibility than what is offered at some other schools.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte came in at #14 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
You may have the opportunity to take online graduate classes at UNC Charlotte. During the 2019-2020 year, about 82% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
University of North Carolina at Wilmington landed the #15 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best master’s degree programs.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since UNCW does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 88% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
Montreat College ranked #16 on this year’s Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list.
Online graduate courses are available at Montreat College, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 97% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #17, University of North Carolina at Greensboro did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Online graduate courses are available at UNC Greensboro, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 80% took at least some of their classes online.
Read full report on University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Pfeiffer University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #18 on the list.
If you are interested in distance education, be sure to check with the school since Pfeiffer University does offer online graduate classes for certain majors. To give an idea of how popular online courses are at the school, 70% of graduates took at least one course online in 2019-2020.
With a ranking of #19, Gardner - Webb University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Gardner - Webb does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. During the 2019-2020 year, about 59% of the graduate students at the school took at least one online course.
Western Carolina University came in at #20 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
Online graduate courses are available at WCU, but you will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your field of interest. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 87% took at least some of their classes online.
With a ranking of #21, Methodist University did quite well on this year’s best schools for students working on their master’s degree.
Winston - Salem State University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #22 on the list.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at WSSU. In fact, around 89% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
North Carolina A & T State University came in at #23 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
Depending on your major, you may be able to take online graduate classes at NC A&T. Of all the graduate students enrolled at the school during the 2019-2020 academic year, around 82% took at least some of their classes online.
North Carolina Central University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for students to get a master’s degree. It came in at #24 on the list.
North Carolina Central University does have options available for those who want to take online graduate classes. You will need to check with the school to see if they are available for your specific major. In fact, around 56% of the graduate population registered for at least one online class in 2019-2020.
University of Mount Olive came in at #25 in this year’s edition of the Best Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking.
Since the graduate programs at UMO are primarily online school, so it is a great choice for returning adults and students who work full time.
Best Master's Degree Schools in the Southeast Region
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Notes and References
Footnotes
*These averages are for the top 25 schools only.
References
- Read more about our ranking methodology.
- 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 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).
- Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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