If you pursue a associate degree in nursing, you won't be alone. The field of study is the #2 most popular program in the country. This means there are lots of options to choose from when you decide to get your degree.
College Factual reviewed 54 schools in North Carolina to determine which ones were the best for associate degree seekers in the field of nursing. Combined, these schools handed out 2,485 associate degrees in nursing to qualified students.
Choosing a Great Nursing School for Your Associate Degree
The nursing associate degree program you select can have a big impact on your future. Important measures of a quality nursing program can vary widely even among the top schools. To make it into this list, a school must excel in the following areas.
A Great Overall School
The overall quality of a associate degree school is important to ensure a quality education, not just how well they do in a particular major. To make it into this list a school must rank well in our overall Best Colleges ranking. This ranking considered factors such as graduation rates, overall graduate earnings and other educational resources to identify great colleges and universities.
Early-Career Earnings
Average early-career salary of those graduating with their associate degree is one indicator we use in our analysis to find the schools that offer the highest-quality education. That is, everyone wants their associate degree to be worth something, and salaries are one measure of determining that.
Other Factors We Consider
In addition to the above, you should consider some of the following factors:
Major Focus - How much a school focuses on nursing students vs. other majors.
Major Demand - The number of nursing students who choose to seek a associate degree at the school.
Educational Resources - The amount of money and other resources allocated to students while they are pursuing their degree. These resources include such things as number of students per instructor and education expenditures per student.
Student Debt - How much debt nursing students go into to obtain their associate degree and how well they are able to pay back that debt.
Accreditation - Whether a school is regionally accredited and/or accredited by a recognized nursing related body.
Our full ranking methodology documents in more detail how we consider these factors to identify the best schools for nursing students working on their associate degree.
Since the program you select can have a significant impact on your future, we've developed a number of rankings, including this Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in North Carolina list, to help you choose the best school for you.
Best Schools for Associate Students to Study Nursing in North Carolina
Explore the top ranked colleges and universities for nursing students seeking a an associate degree. Only those schools that rank in the top 20% of all the schools we analyze get awarded with a place on this list.
10 Top North Carolina Schools for an Associate in Nursing
Any student pursuing a degree in an associate degree in nursing needs to take a look at Sampson Community College. Located in the town of Clinton, Sampson Community College is a public college with a small student population.
Soon after graduation, nursing associate recipients usually earn an average of $69,040 at the beginning of their careers.
Richmond Community College is one of the finest schools in the United States for getting an associate degree in nursing. Richmond Community College is a small public college located in the town of Hamlet.
Associate recipients from the nursing degree program at Richmond Community College make $2,340 more than the typical college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Wake Technical Community College is a wonderful option for individuals pursuing an associate degree in nursing. Located in the large suburb of Raleigh, Wake Technical Community College is a public college with a very large student population.
Associate graduates who receive their degree from the nursing program earn an average of $68,266 for their early career.
Gaston College is a great decision for individuals interested in an associate degree in nursing. Gaston College is a moderately-sized public college located in the midsize suburb of Dallas.
Associate students who receive their degree from the nursing program make about $68,245 in the first couple years of working.
Located in the large city of Charlotte, Carolinas College of Health Sciences is a public college with a small student population.
Associate recipients from the nursing program at Carolinas College of Health Sciences get $7,724 above the standard college grad in this field shortly after graduation.
Brunswick Community College is a small public college located in the rural area of Bolivia.
Associate recipients from the nursing major at Brunswick Community College earn $3,858 more than the typical college graduate in this field when they enter the workforce.
These are some additional schools worth mentioning that are also great but just didn't quite make the cut to earn our top Best Nursing Associate Degree Schools in North Carolina award.
The bars on the spread charts above show the distribution of the schools on this list +/- one standard deviation from the mean.
The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of the rest of our data about colleges.
Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).