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Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina

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2023 Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina

Highlighting Quality Schools With More Affordable Pricing

11 Colleges
$16,636 Avg Tuition & Fees*
$115,233 Avg Salary

Finding the Best Nursing Doctor's Degree School for You

Nursing is the most popular major in North Carolina with 7,425 degrees and certificates handed out in 2020-2021.

With all the nursing programs available today, it can be tough to choose which one is the best 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. Also, there are a number of trade schools with offerings that you might find attractive.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Nursing Degree Search has developed this Best Value Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. This report analyzed 11 schools in North Carolina to see which ones offered the best value doctor's degree programs for nursing students. The goal was to highlight schools with more affordable prices than others offering similar quality experiences.

Our ranking of value is based on the quality of a program as defined in our per sticker price dollar. 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.

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

Top 10 Best Nursing Doctor's Degree Schools

Our analysis found University of North Carolina at Wilmington to be the best value school for nursing students who want to pursue a doctor’s degree in North Carolina. Located in the midsize city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public school with a large student population.

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

UNCW also made our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list, coming in at #4.

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You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around you if you attend University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The school came in at #2 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. UNC Charlotte is a fairly large public school located in the city of Charlotte.

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

UNC Charlotte did well in our overall quality rankings, too. It placed #5 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list.

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Out of the 11 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, Western Carolina University landed the # 3 spot on the list. WCU is a large public school located in the distant town of Cullowhee.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WCU are $7,480 a year.

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#4

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

The excellent doctor’s degree programs at East Carolina 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 Greenville, ECU is a public school with a fairly large student population.

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

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Out of the 11 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, University of North Carolina at Greensboro landed the # 5 spot on the list. UNC Greensboro is a 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.

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill came in at #6 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Chapel Hill.

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

UNC Chapel Hill also made our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list, coming in at #3.

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#7

Winston - Salem State University

Winston-Salem, NC

Winston - Salem State University came in at #7 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. Located in the medium-sized 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.

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Lenoir - Rhyne University came in at #8 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. Located in the small city of Hickory, Lenoir - Rhyne University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

Lenoir - Rhyne University graduate students pay an average of $12,060 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

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#9

Gardner - Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC

Gardner - Webb University landed the #9 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. 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.

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#10

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University came in at #10 in this year’s edition of the Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina ranking. Wake Forest University is a moderately-sized private not-for-profit school located in the medium-sized city of Winston-Salem.

Wake Forest University graduate students pay an average of $39,240 in in-state tuition and fees each year.

Wake Forest University not only placed well in our value ranking, but it is also #1 on our Best Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list.

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

Nursing Concentrations

Major Annual Graduates
Registered Nursing 266,651
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing 16,104
Nursing Administration 9,838
Nursing Practice 7,992
Other Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 5,092
Nursing Science 4,600
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse/Nursing 2,287
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing 2,021
Nurse Anesthetist 1,936
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing 1,883
Critical Care Nursing 773
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing 563
School Nursing 553
Nurse Midwife/Nursing Midwifery 509
Clinical Nurse Leader 444
Clinical Nurse Specialist 419
Perioperative/Operating Room and Surgical Nurse/Nursing 331
Maternal/Child Health and Neonatal Nurse/Nursing 181
Occupational and Environmental Health Nursing 57
Emergency Room/Trauma Nursing 53
Palliative Care Nursing 14
Forensic Nursing 14

Related Major Annual Graduates
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274

Notes and References

*These averages are for the top 11 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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