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U.S. News & World Report made waves in North Carolina on Tuesday when it announced that, according to its calculations, Catawba College is the best regional college in the South.
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But North Carolina schools impressed on the national stage as well.
For example, UNC-Chapel Hill provides the best value for in-state students compared to universities across the country, according to U.S. News.
Read on to find out how NC schools did in U.S. News’ national college rankings for 2027.
Here’s how NC schools fared in U.S. News’ list of the overall best universities in the nation:
As for the best liberal arts colleges in the country, Davidson College is tied for 16th and Meredith College is tied for 119th.
Here’s the breakdown for North Carolina’s public universities, stacked up against others across the country:
And in U.S. News’ rankings of public liberal arts colleges, UNC Asheville came in at No. 18, down eight places from last year and tied with SUNY College Old Westbury.
Here’s how North Carolina’s private universities ranked against others across the country:
And for private liberal arts colleges, Davidson College tied for 13th with Carleton College in Minnesota and Grinnell College in Iowa. Meredith College is tied for 113th.
For the nation’s best HBCUs, North Carolina schools did well:
As for public HBCUs, NC A&T came in first place, according to a press release from the school.
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“Our responsibility as a public, land-grant HBCU is to bring academic excellence and opportunity together,” said Chancellor James R. Martin II in a statement. “These results reflect progress across the university, particularly in high-demand disciplines that are vital to our state and nation. And they come at a critical moment for higher education nationally as we all seek to underscore our value and importance to the economic success of America.”
Here are North Carolina’s schools that U.S. News says have some of the best value in the country. “These are schools that are above average academically and cost considerably less than many other schools when the average financial aid that they dispense for students with need — as grants and scholarships — is taken into account,” U.S. News said.
In U.S. News’ rankings of the liberal arts schools with the best value, Davidson College placed 14th.
For in-state students, here’s how North Carolina schools ranked in value against universities across the country:
As for how innovative North Carolina’s universities are, here’s the breakdown.
UNC-Chapel Hill said in a press release that this rise “comes as Carolina expands its work in artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship and industry partnerships.”
And our liberal arts colleges are innovative too, according to U.S. News:
Here’s how U.S. News ranks schools on innovation: “College presidents, provosts and admissions deans were asked to nominate up to 15 colleges or universities in their U.S. News Best Colleges ranking category that are making the most innovative improvements in terms of curriculum, faculty, students, campus life, technology or facilities.
“The Most Innovative Schools rankings are based solely on the top academics’ responses to this question, which was a separate section of U.S. News’ annual peer assessment survey in 2026.”
Here’s how North Carolina schools rank in their performance on social mobility:
As for liberal arts colleges that provide the most social mobility, Salem College is tied for 32nd.
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 5:29 PM.