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Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina

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2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

10 Colleges
$14,181 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$99,011 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Graduate Certificate School for You

Out of the majors we analyze each year, nursing was ranked 3rd in North Carolina. In fact, 1,399 were awarded in the state in 2020-2021.

There are so many programs in today's world that it can tough to figure out which one is the right one for you. 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.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Grad Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina ranking. Our analysis looked at 10 schools in North Carolina to see which graduate certificate programs offered the best value experiences for nursing students with the aim of identifying those quality schools that are more affordable than some of their counterparts.

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. Specifically, our score for quality is discounted by the published tuition and fees charged by the given college. This gives the cost per unit of quality for each college. The more quality your dollar buys, the better the value.

For nationwide and regional rankings, we use out-of-state tuition and fees in our calculations. For statewide rankings, we use average in-state tuition and fees.

2023 Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools

Our 2023 rankings named Appalachian State University the best value school in North Carolina for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. Located in the distant town of Boone, Appalachian State is a public school with a fairly large student population.

Appalachian State graduate students pay an average of $8,007 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Appalachian State is ranked #5 for overall quality for nursing in North Carolina.

Read full report on Nursing at Appalachian State University

#2

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

Out of the 10 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, East Carolina University landed the # 2 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public college with a fairly large student population.

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

Read More…

A rank of #3 on this year’s list means University of North Carolina at Charlotte is a great value for nursing students working on their graduate certificate. UNC Charlotte is a very large public school located in the large city of Charlotte.

UNC Charlotte graduate students pay an average of $7,713 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

UNC Charlotte also took the #4 spot in our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina rankings.

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Charlotte Report

#4

Winston - Salem State University

Winston-Salem, NC

The excellent graduate certificate programs at Winston - Salem State University helped the school earn the #4 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in North Carolina. Located in the city of Winston-Salem, WSSU is a public school with a moderately-sized student population.

WSSU graduate students pay an average of $6,718 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at Winston - Salem State University

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of North Carolina at Wilmington. The school came in at #5 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina list. Located in the midsize city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public college with a large student population.

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

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Wilmington Report

University of North Carolina at Greensboro did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #6 on the list. UNC Greensboro is a fairly large public school located in the city of Greensboro.

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

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Greensboro Report

#7

Gardner - Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC

Gardner - Webb University did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #7 on the list. Gardner - Webb is a small private not-for-profit school located in the town of Boiling Springs.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Gardner - Webb are $10,130 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Gardner - Webb University

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ranked #8 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina list. UNC Chapel Hill is a very large public school located in the city of Chapel Hill.

UNC Chapel Hill graduate students pay an average of $12,566 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Read full report on Nursing at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Queens University of Charlotte did quite well in this year’s ranking of the best places for nursing students to get a graduate certificate. It came in at #9 on the list. Located in the large city of Charlotte, Queens is a private not-for-profit school with a small student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Queens are $14,166 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Queens University of Charlotte

#10

Duke University

Durham, NC

Duke University landed the #10 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value graduate certificate nursing programs. Duke is a large private not-for-profit school located in the large city of Durham.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at Duke are $59,141 a year.

Duke also made our Best Nursing Graduate Certificate Schools in North Carolina list, coming in at #1.

Read More…

Best Value Nursing Colleges in the Southeast Region

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

State Degrees Awarded
Virginia 1,110
Florida 3,074
Georgia 1,685
Tennessee 1,589
Kentucky 2,017
Louisiana 520
Alabama 2,641
South Carolina 468
Mississippi 262
Arkansas 299
West Virginia 184

One of 29 majors within the area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

Related Major Annual Graduates
Medicine 28,629
Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions 24,774
Public Health 19,473
Health & Medical Administrative Services 17,335
Pharmacy/Pharmaceutical Sciences 16,952

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 10 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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