Whether it’s U.S. News & World Report or The Wall Street Journal doing the rankings, it’s clear North Carolina is blessed with an abundance of highly rated colleges and universities, both public and private.
In all, 13 North Carolina universities are ranked by U.S. News among national universities.1
• Duke University ranked 10th overall among national universities in both U.S. Newsand The Wall Street Journal. Duke tied with Yale for 3rd in student outcomes in the Journal, behind Harvard and Princeton, and ranked 8th for best value in U.S. News.
• UNC-Chapel Hill ranked 29th overall among national universities in U.S. News and 33rd in the Journal. Carolina was rated the 3rd best public university by the Journal (behind UCLA and Michigan) and 5th (tied with Georgia Tech) by U.S. News – its 19th straight year among the top five public universities. Chapel Hill also was ranked 6th for best value by the Journal. U.S. News ranked Carolina 10th for best value and 10th for veterans.
• Wake Forest University ranked 27th overall among national universities in U.S. News.
• NC State University was ranked 34th among national public universities, 84th overall and 31st most innovative by U.S. News.
• Elon University: For the first time classified as a national university, Elon tied with NC State for 84th and ranked 2nd for undergraduate teaching in U.S. News. Elon formerly ranked No. 1 among Southern regional universities.
• N.C. A&T State University was rated No. 1 among public historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for the second year and 6th overall among HBCUs by U.S. News. A&T also broke into the rankings for national universities for the first time.
• High Point University is the No. 1-ranked regional college in the South for the eighth consecutive year in U.S. News. High Point also ranked No. 1 in undergraduate teaching among regional colleges in the South.
• Appalachian State University ranked 6th in U.S. News among regional universities in the South, 2nd for undergraduate teaching, 2nd for veterans and the 17th best value in U.S. News.
• Western Carolina University ranked 10th among public regional universities in the South, 23rd among all regional universities in the South, 12th for veterans and the 14th best value in U.S. News.
• NC Central University ranked 21st among public regional universities in the South and 44th for best value in U.S. News.
• Davidson College ranked 17th among national liberal arts colleges and 2nd for undergraduate teaching in its category.
• UNC Asheville was rated the 8th-best public school among national liberal arts colleges (a category that includes the U.S. military academies) by U.S. News.
• UNC Wilmington ranked 185th among national universities in U.S. News.
• Elizabeth City State University ranked 3rd among public regional colleges in the South and 7th in social mobility in that category.
• Four North Carolina national universities made the top 100 in U.S. News’ new rankings for social mobility: UNC Greensboro was 27th, East Carolina University was 39th, N.C. A&T 66th and UNC Charlotte 84th. Winston-Salem State University does not participate in the U.S. News rankings, but WSSU is one of just five universities in the nation that have ranked in the top 20 in CollegeNET’s Social Mobility Index for the past five years.
So yes, North Carolina is blessed – but these rankings don’t happen by chance. They happen because our state’s leaders made both moral and financial commitments to educate the generations of the future.
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