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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 4,150 degrees and certificates from a North Carolina school, making the subject the 3rd in the state.

There are lots of options to pick from today when trying to decide which program is right for you. You're no longer limited to schools in your local area, either, since online programs are becoming more prevalent. Or you may find the programs at a trade school to be a better alternative for you.

To assist you in seeing some of the education options that are available to you, Grad Degree Search has created its Best Value Education Master's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. 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.

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 Education Master’s Degree Schools in North Carolina

The colleges and universities below are the best value schools for education majors pursuing a master's degree.

Top 10 Best Education Master's Degree Schools

#1

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

Our analysis found East Carolina University to be the best value school for education students who want to pursue a master’s degree in North Carolina. ECU is a very large public school located in the city of Greenville.

ECU graduate students pay an average of $7,594 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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The excellent master’s degree programs at University of North Carolina at Charlotte helped the school earn the #2 place on this year’s ranking of the best value education schools in North Carolina. Located in the large city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

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

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Appalachian State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 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.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Appalachian State are $8,007 per year.

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#4

Fayetteville State University

Fayetteville, NC

Out of the 22 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Fayetteville State University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the medium-sized city of Fayetteville, Fayetteville State University is a public school with a medium-sized student population.

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

Full Education at Fayetteville State University Report

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 moderately-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.

Full Education at University of North Carolina at Pembroke Report

University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. 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

With a ranking of #7, Salem College did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. Salem is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winston-Salem.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Salem are $8,400 a year.

Full Education at Salem College Report

North Carolina Central University landed the #8 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value master’s degree education programs. Located in the large city of Durham, North Carolina Central University is a public school with a moderately-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 town of Cullowhee, WCU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

WCU graduate students pay an average of $7,480 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Education at Western Carolina University

With a ranking of #10, University of North Carolina at Wilmington did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students working on their master’s degree. UNCW is a fairly large public school located in the midsize city of Wilmington.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UNCW are $7,514 a year.

Full Education at University of North Carolina at Wilmington Report

Best Value Education Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Mississippi 2,371
Florida 5,192
Virginia 7,400
Tennessee 3,386
Georgia 6,283
South Carolina 2,297
Louisiana 1,732
West Virginia 924
Kentucky 3,387
Arkansas 3,395
Alabama 3,231

Education Majors to Study

Major Annual Graduates
Educational Administration 45,458
Teacher Education Grade Specific 34,451
Special Education 25,158
General Education 21,189
Teacher Education Subject Specific 20,616
Curriculum & Instruction 19,784
Student Counseling 13,840
Instructional Media Design 8,387
Teaching English or French 4,743
Other Education 2,513
Multilingual Education 1,672
Educational Assessment 1,215
Education Philosophy 421
International Education 257
Teaching Assistants 20

Related Major Annual Graduates
Psychology 42,013
Social Sciences 22,292
Communication & Journalism 12,242
Library Science 5,929
History 4,391

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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