North Carolina has 56 private and 17 public 4-year colleges that enroll 52,436 first-year students yearly. The average tuition of public colleges is $21,242 for in-state students and $34,081 for out-of-state and international students.

Private colleges in North Carolina charge around $30,814 per year in tuition regardless of residency.

In the 2021-2022 academic year, North Carolina provided $61 million in financial aid to 16,277 students who enrolled in 4-year colleges for the first time as undergraduates. In addition, the colleges themselves awarded $352.4 million in grants and scholarships to 30,121 students.

North Carolina receives 3% of the total pell grant the federal government allocates. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 19,333 4-year college first-year undergraduates were awarded a total amount of $97.9 million in pell grant ($5,017 per student on average), and 25,613 students received a total amount of $142.2 million in the form of student loans from the federal government ($6,580 per student on average).