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Community colleges in North Carolina

There are 37 two-year, predominantly associate-degree-granting community colleges in North Carolina reporting to the U.S. Department of Education. Median published in-state tuition across the state is $2,581 per academic year — among the most affordable postsecondary options anywhere in the country.

This page is a working directory: every institution links to a full profile with cost, enrollment, completion, and transfer numbers. The lists below highlight the most affordable, the largest, and the most transfer-active campuses in North Carolina, drawn from the same Department of Education data four-year admissions offices use to evaluate incoming transfer applicants. If you are weighing a community-college start before continuing to a four-year program, the transfer rate column is the single most useful comparison.

Most affordable in-state tuition in North Carolina

  1. Vance-Granville Community CollegeHenderson$1,944
  2. Rockingham Community CollegeWentworth$1,966
  3. Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham$1,986
  4. Craven Community CollegeNew Bern$2,022
  5. South Piedmont Community CollegePolkton$2,022

Full North Carolina cost ranking → Tuition reference →

Largest community colleges in North Carolina

  1. Cape Fear Community CollegeWilmington9,764
  2. Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown9,260
  3. Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem7,113
  4. Pitt Community CollegeWinterville5,317
  5. Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham3,890

Full enrollment ranking →

Strongest transfer outcomes

Share of full-time entrants who transferred to another institution within 150% of program length.

  1. Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory33%
  2. College of the AlbemarleElizabeth City31%
  3. Southeastern Community CollegeWhiteville26%
  4. Western Piedmont Community CollegeMorganton23%
  5. Bladen Community CollegeDublin23%

North Carolina transfer guide →

All 37 community colleges in North Carolina

InstitutionCityEnrollmentIn-state tuition
Bladen Community CollegeDublin1,030$2,618
Brunswick Community CollegeBolivia1,211$2,553
Cabarrus College of Health SciencesConcord712$16,550
Caldwell Community College and Technical InstituteHudson2,393$2,526
Cape Fear Community CollegeWilmington9,764$2,748
Carolinas College of Health SciencesCharlotte533$18,882
Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory2,741$2,427
Central Carolina Community CollegeSanford3,237$2,711
Cleveland Community CollegeShelby1,097$2,602
Coastal Carolina Community CollegeJacksonville2,724$2,512
College of the AlbemarleElizabeth City2,001$2,242
Craven Community CollegeNew Bern1,989$2,022
Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham3,890$1,986
Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem7,113$2,276
Galen Health Institutes-AshevilleAsheville253$17,048
Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown9,260$2,320
Halifax Community CollegeWeldon723$2,608
Haywood Community CollegeClyde849$2,580
Johnson & Wales University-CharlotteCharlotte1,184$42,419
Louisburg CollegeLouisburg402$24,120
Mayland Community CollegeSpruce Pine362$2,626
McDowell Technical Community CollegeMarion608$2,032
NASCAR Technical InstituteMooresville1,345—
Piedmont Community CollegeRoxboro457$2,556
Pitt Community CollegeWinterville5,317$2,580
Roanoke-Chowan Community CollegeAhoskie309$2,642
Robeson Community CollegeLumberton1,551$2,581
Rockingham Community CollegeWentworth1,065$1,966
Sampson Community CollegeClinton846$2,877
Sandhills Community CollegePinehurst2,539$2,040
South Piedmont Community CollegePolkton1,833$2,022
South University-High PointHigh Point67$18,145
Southeastern Community CollegeWhiteville820$2,600
Tri-County Community CollegeMurphy472$2,636
Vance-Granville Community CollegeHenderson1,665$1,944
Western Piedmont Community CollegeMorganton1,339$2,650
Wilson Community CollegeWilson1,373$2,572

About community college in North Carolina

North Carolina's 37 community colleges serve as the primary on-ramp into postsecondary education for hundreds of thousands of residents each year. They award associate degrees, occupational certificates, and — through articulation agreements with public and private four-year institutions — transferable general-education credit. For most students, the financial argument is decisive: published in-state tuition averages a small fraction of state-flagship sticker price, and many community-college students qualify for the full federal Pell Grant, eliminating tuition entirely.

If you intend to transfer, the most important question to ask any North Carolina community college is which four-year institutions accept its credit on a course-for-course basis. The state's strongest transfer pipelines tend to feed regional public universities, but well-prepared students from accredited community colleges in North Carolina routinely transfer into selective private institutions as well. Use the transfer-rate column above as a starting filter, then consult the receiving university's transfer admissions office to confirm specific course equivalencies.

Career-focused students should pay attention to the local labor market as much as to the institution. North Carolina's community colleges concentrate heavily in health-care occupations, mechanical and engineering technology, business administration, and skilled-trades programs aligned to regional employers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' state-level wage data is the right reference for setting expectations on starting salary by field. Where this site reports earnings, the figure is median earnings ten years after first enrollment, drawn from the College Scorecard's match against federal tax records.