Study Finds North Carolina Has The Best Community Colleges
With the rising cost of education and student loan debt community college can be a great, affordable option. Whether you want to begin college at a two-year school and then transfer…
With the rising cost of education and student loan debt community college can be a great, affordable option. Whether you want to begin college at a two-year school and then transfer to a four-year institution or obtain an associate's degree and begin your career it can open many doors. And it is a significantly cheaper option than most public and private 4-year schools. And if you're in North Carolina it's an even better option as we have some of the best community colleges in the country.
Knowing the benefits of community college, SmartAsset set out to find the best community colleges in the country. They looked at data in regards to 801 schools across the following three metrics: student-to-faculty ratio, graduation and transfer rate, and the cost of tuition and fees. This is the 9th time they have conducted the study. And the data speaks for itself. The top 10 consists entirely of schools in North Carolina or Wisconsin. But North Carolina is the clear-cut winner with 7 of the top 10 community colleges in our state. Additionally, more than half of the top 25 are in North Carolina. Now that is something to be proud of!
This is due to some fantastic graduation and transfer rates- as high as 79%! Our community colleges also have a lower cost with most of the tuition in the $2,000 range.
View the top 10 below and read the full study by SmartAsset here
10. Randolph Community College
Location: Asheboro, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 59%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,386
Student-Faculty Ratio: 9
9. Haywood Community College
Location: Clyde, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 59%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,580
Student-Faculty Ratio: 8
8. Blue Ridge Community College
Location: Flat Rock, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 71%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,651
Student-Faculty Ratio: 13
7. Lenoir Community College
Location: Kinston, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 72%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,568
Student-Faculty Ratio: 13
6. Western Technical College
Location: La Crosse, WI
Grad & Transfer Rate: 76%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $4,500
Student-Faculty Ratio: 9
5. Halifax Community College
Location: Weldon, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 71%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,608
Student-Faculty Ratio: 11
4. Nicolet Area Technical College
Location: Rhinelander, WI
Grad & Transfer Rate: 77%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $4,505
Student-Faculty Ratio: 9
3. Northwood Technical College
Location: Shell Lake, WI
Grad & Transfer Rate: 75%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $4,917
Student-Faculty Ratio: 7
2. Carteret Community College
Location: Morehead City, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 72%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,640
Student-Faculty Ratio: 8
1. Montgomery Community College
Location: Troy, NC
Grad & Transfer Rate: 79%
In-State Tuition & Fees: $2,537
Student-Faculty Ratio: 8
Methodology (From SmartAsset)
Data and Methodology
To compile our rankings of the best community colleges in America, we analyzed data on 801 community colleges and compared them across the following metrics:
- Student-to-faculty ratio. This is the number of students for every faculty member. Data comes from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and is for the 2020-2021 school year.
- Graduation and transfer rate. This is the percentage of students who either graduate from the community college or transfer to a four-year institution. Data comes from IPEDS and is for the 2020-2021 school year.
- Cost of tuition and fees. This is the cost of tuition and fees for in-state students completing two semesters of coursework. Data comes from IPEDS and is for the 2020-2021 school year.
To create our final rankings, we gave each community college a score in each of the metrics based on how far above or below the mean they were. We used the sum of these numbers to create our final ranking. The community college with the highest cumulative score received a score of 100. The community college with the lowest score received a score of 0.
