# Best Biology Colleges in North Carolina

> CollegeRanker Agent Insights — structured data for AI systems
> Updated: 2026-05-31 | Schools: 47 | Category: By State
> Source: https://www.collegeranker.com/rankings/best-biology-north-carolina

## Methodology

Biology programs in North Carolina ranked by outcomes and program concentration

CollegeRanker uses a 4-pillar algorithm: Academic Quality (15-20%), Economic Outcomes (30%), Social Mobility (25-35%), Value & Affordability (20-25%). Social mobility data from Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Card (30M+ anonymized tax records). No subjective surveys.

## Rankings

| Rank | School | Location | Graduation | Earnings (10yr) | Net Price | Median Debt | Debt/Earnings |
|------|--------|----------|------------|-----------------|-----------|-------------|---------------|
| 1 | [University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-at-chapel-hill) | Chapel Hill, NC | 92% | $72,200 | $11,655 | $14,000 | 0.19x |
| 2 | [Duke University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/duke-university) | Durham, NC | 96% | $97,800 | $29,612 | $13,000 | 0.13x |
| 3 | [Davidson College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/davidson-college) | Davidson, NC | 91% | $81,400 | $17,379 | $18,688 | 0.23x |
| 4 | [Wake Forest University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/wake-forest-university) | Winston-Salem, NC | 90% | $78,158 | $28,719 | $21,500 | 0.28x |
| 5 | [University of North Carolina at Charlotte](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-at-charlotte) | Charlotte, NC | 68% | $57,289 | $15,435 | $21,500 | 0.38x |
| 6 | [Lees-McRae College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/lees-mcrae-college) | Banner Elk, NC | 43% | $43,415 | $28,340 | $17,375 | 0.4x |
| 7 | [Appalachian State University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/appalachian-state-university) | Boone, NC | 74% | $51,836 | $16,836 | $20,231 | 0.39x |
| 8 | [University of North Carolina Wilmington](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-wilmington) | Wilmington, NC | 71% | $54,967 | $20,109 | $19,500 | 0.35x |
| 9 | [East Carolina University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/east-carolina-university) | Greenville, NC | 62% | $55,146 | $15,739 | $22,750 | 0.41x |
| 10 | [University of North Carolina Asheville](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-asheville) | Asheville, NC | 55% | $44,030 | $12,250 | $20,500 | 0.47x |
| 11 | [Meredith College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/meredith-college) | Raleigh, NC | 68% | $51,539 | $22,488 | $25,000 | 0.49x |
| 12 | [University of North Carolina at Greensboro](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-at-greensboro) | Greensboro, NC | 57% | $48,160 | $10,965 | $22,858 | 0.47x |
| 13 | [Elizabeth City State University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/elizabeth-city-state-university) | Elizabeth City, NC | 46% | $40,026 | $6,364 | $21,463 | 0.54x |
| 14 | [Wingate University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/wingate-university) | Wingate, NC | 47% | $52,649 | $20,748 | $25,000 | 0.47x |
| 15 | [Elon University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/elon-university) | Elon, NC | 84% | $74,545 | $41,555 | $20,500 | 0.28x |
| 16 | [University of North Carolina at Pembroke](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-north-carolina-at-pembroke) | Pembroke, NC | 44% | $43,407 | $10,260 | $25,000 | 0.58x |
| 17 | [Winston-Salem State University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/winston-salem-state-university) | Winston-Salem, NC | 48% | $45,344 | $13,479 | $25,000 | 0.55x |
| 18 | [Warren Wilson College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/warren-wilson-college) | Swannanoa, NC | 42% | $36,260 | $21,249 | $25,000 | 0.69x |
| 19 | [University of Mount Olive](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/university-of-mount-olive) | Mount Olive, NC | 50% | $47,139 | $18,853 | $27,209 | 0.58x |
| 20 | [Queens University of Charlotte](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/queens-university-of-charlotte) | Charlotte, NC | 64% | $57,673 | $30,857 | $25,000 | 0.43x |
| 21 | [North Carolina State University at Raleigh](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/north-carolina-state-university-at-raleigh) | Raleigh, NC | 85% | $68,758 | $17,303 | $20,121 | 0.29x |
| 22 | [Barton College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/barton-college) | Wilson, NC | 48% | $47,913 | $23,626 | $25,877 | 0.54x |
| 23 | [Catawba College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/catawba-college) | Salisbury, NC | 50% | $48,793 | $17,879 | $25,000 | 0.51x |
| 24 | [Salem College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/salem-college) | Winston-Salem, NC | 57% | $44,640 | $18,277 | $26,649 | 0.6x |
| 25 | [William Peace University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/william-peace-university) | Raleigh, NC | 45% | $46,643 | $21,649 | $22,250 | 0.48x |
| 26 | [Campbell University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/campbell-university) | Buies Creek, NC | 58% | $54,886 | $24,516 | $22,500 | 0.41x |
| 27 | [North Carolina A & T State University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/north-carolina-a-t-state-university) | Greensboro, NC | 56% | $44,440 | $10,846 | $27,000 | 0.61x |
| 28 | [Fayetteville State University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/fayetteville-state-university) | Fayetteville, NC | 37% | $40,144 | $7,892 | $22,987 | 0.57x |
| 29 | [High Point University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/high-point-university) | High Point, NC | 72% | $61,389 | $38,707 | $24,575 | 0.4x |
| 30 | [Guilford College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/guilford-college) | Greensboro, NC | 47% | $47,590 | $22,270 | $26,000 | 0.55x |
| 31 | [Belmont Abbey College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/belmont-abbey-college) | Belmont, NC | 47% | $47,937 | $24,639 | $26,000 | 0.54x |
| 32 | [Lenoir-Rhyne University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/lenoir-rhyne-university) | Hickory, NC | 49% | $45,543 | $20,689 | $26,000 | 0.57x |
| 33 | [North Carolina Central University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/north-carolina-central-university) | Durham, NC | 44% | $42,968 | $15,359 | $28,250 | 0.66x |
| 34 | [Mars Hill University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/mars-hill-university) | Mars Hill, NC | 43% | $44,781 | $19,910 | $26,000 | 0.58x |
| 35 | [Pfeiffer University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/pfeiffer-university) | Misenheimer, NC | 39% | $51,562 | $19,076 | $26,163 | 0.51x |
| 36 | [Greensboro College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/greensboro-college) | Greensboro, NC | 43% | $46,566 | $17,882 | $25,607 | 0.55x |
| 37 | [Methodist University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/methodist-university) | Fayetteville, NC | 42% | $48,050 | $24,704 | $27,000 | 0.56x |
| 38 | [Brevard College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/brevard-college) | Brevard, NC | 44% | $43,545 | $23,509 | $25,000 | 0.57x |
| 39 | [Gardner-Webb University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/gardner-webb-university) | Boiling Springs, NC | 59% | $48,039 | $17,674 | $24,222 | 0.5x |
| 40 | [Montreat College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/montreat-college) | Montreat, NC | 45% | $45,151 | $27,061 | $25,813 | 0.57x |
| 41 | [Louisburg College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/louisburg-college) | Louisburg, NC | 29% | $34,818 | $22,694 | $12,000 | 0.34x |
| 42 | [Shaw University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/shaw-university) | Raleigh, NC | 21% | $34,409 | $16,512 | $32,500 | 0.94x |
| 43 | [Livingstone College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/livingstone-college) | Salisbury, NC | 26% | $32,600 | $13,479 | $31,125 | 0.95x |
| 44 | [Chowan University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/chowan-university) | Murfreesboro, NC | 29% | $38,412 | $14,086 | $29,491 | 0.77x |
| 45 | [Johnson C Smith University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/johnson-c-smith-university) | Charlotte, NC | 34% | $42,680 | $20,894 | $30,000 | 0.7x |
| 46 | [Cleveland Community College](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/cleveland-community-college) | Shelby, NC | 20% | $33,755 | $995 | N/A | N/A |
| 47 | [Carolina University](https://www.collegeranker.com/colleges/carolina-university) | Winston-Salem, NC | 24% | $32,864 | $20,828 | $20,287 | 0.62x |

## Data Sources

- U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov)
- Opportunity Insights Mobility Report Card (https://opportunityinsights.org/data)
- Opportunity Insights Social Capital Atlas
- Times Higher Education World University Rankings
- NCES IPEDS

## Citation

CollegeRanker. "Best Biology Colleges in North Carolina." CollegeRanker.com, 2026-05-31. https://www.collegeranker.com/rankings/best-biology-north-carolina

## License

This data summary is provided for informational purposes. Underlying data from federal sources (College Scorecard, IPEDS) is public domain. Opportunity Insights data is available under their data use agreement at https://opportunityinsights.org/data/.