When the college-raters come calling, North Carolina’s public universities stack up very, very well.
In a flurry of rankings released over the past year – but particularly in recent weeks – schools in the University of North Carolina System have drawn high marks:
• UNC-Chapel Hill was the 5th-ranked public university in the nation for the 18th straight year in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings and 30th among national universities.1
“Talk about consistency,” declared The (Greensboro) News & Record’s John Newsom.2
For 17 years in a row, UNC-Chapel Hill has also been rated the best value in the nation among public universities by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.3 Carolina was ranked 8th among “Best Value Schools” by U.S. News.4
• NC State University was rated the 9th Best Value College in the nation by Kiplinger’s,5 and it tied for 37th among public universities in the U.S. News rankings.6 NC State was also rated the 17th Best Bachelor’s in Engineering Degree by College Choice7 and the 19th Best Value School for Biomedical Engineering.8
• NC A&T State University returned to No. 1 among public Historically Black Colleges and Universities this year. It tied with Claflin University in South Carolina at No. 7 among all HBCUs.9
• NC Central University ranked 3rd, Fayetteville State University 11th and Elizabeth City State University 17th among public HBCUs.10
• UNC Asheville was rated the No. 7 public liberal-arts college in the country by U.S. News. UNC Asheville also ranks No. 2 nationally for the “Best Schools for Making an Impact” in The Princeton Review’s “Colleges that Pay You Back.”11
• Among regional universities in the South, Appalachian State University ranked 8th in the U.S. News rankings, UNC Wilmington 15th and Western Carolina University 34th.12 Appalachian also ranked 2nd in the Best Undergraduate Teaching category among Southern regional universities, and it was listed among the “Best in the Southeast” by The Princeton Review.13
• Winston-Salem State University hasn’t participated in the U.S. News rankings for several years, but Chancellor Elwood Robinson is proud that WSSU has ranked among the top 20 schools in CollegeNET’s Social Mobility Index for four straight years. WSSU is one of just five schools in the nation to rank in the top 20 each year of the rankings.14
The numbers for many of our state’s public universities are strong – but they also can’t be taken for granted. Strong public institutions don’t thrive without strong public support.
1 https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public.
3 https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/college/T014-S003-best-values-in-public-colleges-2018/index.html.
4 https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/best-value.
5 https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/college/T014-S003-best-values-in-public-colleges-2018/index.html.
6 https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public.
7 https://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-engineering-degrees/.
8 https://www.bestvalueschools.com/rankings/biomedical-engineering-degrees/.
9 https://www.ncat.edu/news/2018/09/us-news-hbcu-top-ranking-18.html.
10 https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/top-public.
12 https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article218113575.html.
13 https://today.appstate.edu/
14 https://wssu.edu/about/news/articles/2018/09/letter-from-chancellor-robinson-u.s.-news-rankings.html; https://www.wssu.edu/about/news/articles/2017/10/wssu-remains-among-top-universities-for-creating-educational-opportunity.html.
Patrick says
Disappointed you didn’t recognize more of the App State accolades…maybe next time.
https://today.appstate.edu/2018/10/05/accolades