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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.

When it comes to higher education, there are a lot of options for healthcare students. Along with traditional schools that require in-person attendence, you can attend one of many reputable online schools. Some programs even offer a hybrid experience. Alternatively, you may choose a trade school that prepares you to enter the workforce with knowledge in a specific field.

To help you arm yourself with the information you need to make your decision, Healthcare 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.

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. 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.

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

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

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

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 city of Wilmington, UNCW is a public college with a large student population.

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

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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 very large public school located in the city of Charlotte.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UNC Charlotte are $7,713 a year.

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The excellent doctor’s degree programs at Western Carolina University helped the school earn the #3 place on this year’s ranking of the best value nursing schools in North Carolina. WCU is a large public school located in the town of Cullowhee.

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

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#4

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC

Out of the 11 schools in North Carolina that were part of this year’s ranking, East Carolina University landed the # 4 spot on the list. Located in the small city of Greenville, ECU is a public school with a very large student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at ECU are $7,594 a 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.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at UNC Greensboro are $8,265 per year.

Full Nursing at University of North Carolina at Greensboro Report

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill landed the #6 spot in the 2023 rankings for the best value doctor’s degree nursing programs. UNC Chapel Hill is a fairly large public school located in the small city of Chapel Hill.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at UNC Chapel Hill are $12,566 a year.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, UNC Chapel Hill is ranked #3 for overall quality for nursing in North Carolina.

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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 medium-sized student population.

The average tuition and fees for an in-state graduate student at WSSU are $6,718 a year.

Read full report on Nursing at Winston - Salem State University

With a ranking of #8, Lenoir - Rhyne University did quite well on this year’s best value schools for nursing students working on their doctor’s degree. Located in the city of Hickory, Lenoir - Rhyne University is a private not-for-profit college with a small student population.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Lenoir - Rhyne University are $12,060 per year.

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#9

Gardner - Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC

Gardner - Webb University ranked #9 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. Gardner - Webb is a small private not-for-profit school located in the distant town of Boiling Springs.

In-state tuition fees for graduate students at Gardner - Webb are $10,130 per year.

Read full report on Nursing at Gardner - Webb University

#10

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Wake Forest University ranked #10 on this year’s Best Value Nursing Doctor’s Degree Schools in North Carolina list. 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.

In addition to its best value ranking, and one of the reasons why the school is on the list, Wake Forest University is ranked #1 for overall quality for nursing in North Carolina.

Full Nursing at Wake Forest University Report

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

One of 30 majors within the healthcare area of study, nursing has other similar majors worth exploring.

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

Majors Similar to Nursing

Related Major Annual Graduates
Health & Medical Administrative Services 89,359
Allied Health & Medical Assisting Services 84,492
Practical Nursing & Nursing Assistants 84,274
Allied Health Professions 82,308
Public Health 40,596

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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