Find Grad Schools

Study Area & Zipcode

Best Value Education Schools in North Carolina

Find Schools Near

2023 Best Value Education Schools in North Carolina

Identifying Quality Schools at More Affordable Prices

21 Colleges
$19,190 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$41,315 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Education 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 Schools in North Carolina ranking. Our analysis looked at 21 schools in North Carolina to see which programs offered the best value experiences for education students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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 Schools in North Carolina

Check out the education programs at these schools if you want to get the best value for your educational dollar.

Top 10 Best Education Schools

Our 2023 rankings named University of North Carolina at Charlotte the best value school in North Carolina for education students. Located in the large city of Charlotte, UNC Charlotte is a public college with a very large student population.

UNC Charlotte undergraduate students pay an average of $7,188 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#2

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

Out of the 21 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, East Carolina University landed the # 2 spot on the list. ECU is a fairly large public school located in the city of Greenville.

ECU undergraduate students pay an average of $7,297 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Appalachian State University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Education Schools in North Carolina list. Appalachian State is a very large public school located in the town of Boone.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Appalachian State are $7,410 a year.

Read full report on Education at Appalachian State University

#4

Fayetteville State University

Fayetteville, NC
$5,379 Average Tuition & Fees

Out of the 21 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 moderately-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at Fayetteville State University are $5,379 a year.

Read More…

$3,495 Average Tuition & Fees

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of North Carolina at Pembroke. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Education Schools in North Carolina list. UNC Pembroke is a moderately-sized public school located in the distant town of Pembroke.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at UNC Pembroke are $3,495 per year.

Read More…

A rank of #5 on this year’s list means University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a great value for education students. 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 undergraduate at UNC Greensboro are $7,468 a year.

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

With a ranking of #7, University of North Carolina at Wilmington did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. UNCW is a fairly large public school located in the city of Wilmington.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state undergraduate at UNCW are $7,238 a year.

Read More…

With a ranking of #8, Western Carolina University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. Located in the town of Cullowhee, WCU is a public school with a large student population.

WCU undergraduate students pay an average of $4,367 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read More…

#8

Salem College

Winston-Salem, NC

Salem College came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Education Schools in North Carolina ranking. Salem is a fairly small private not-for-profit school located in the city of Winston-Salem.

In-state tuition fees for undergraduate students at Salem are $31,016 per year.

Full Education at Salem College Report

With a ranking of #10, North Carolina Central University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for education students. Located in the city of Durham, North Carolina Central University is a public college with a moderately-sized student population.

North Carolina Central University undergraduate students pay an average of $6,644 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Full Education at North Carolina Central University 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 21 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.

Featured Schools

Find Graduate Schools Near You

Our free school finder matches students with accredited graduate schools across the U.S.