Rankings and Facts

Essential Facts

We think and do — and the world takes notice.

As a Research I university, NC State is a key part of the Research Triangle region, which is home to industry leaders such as NC State partners SAS, Cisco, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline and Lenovo.

Raleigh and the surrounding area are consistently rated among the best places to live and work in the United States, and NC State is a driving force for the local, state and national economies.

• 38,400+ students, 2,400+ faculty and 7,100+ staff
• Educating more North Carolinians than any other university
• Student-faculty ratio 16:1
• 12 colleges representing all major academic fields
• More than 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs offered through 68 departments
• NC State Extension serves citizens in all 100 counties and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
• $2.03 billion endowment, among the top 90 largest higher-education endowments in the country
• $2.035 billion budget for fiscal year 2023

Rankings

• Top 1% of universities worldwide (Center for World University Rankings)
• #2 best public college in North Carolina for value (Money)
• #2 for research commercialization among public universities nationally (Heartland Forward)
• #2 military-friendly school among Tier 1 research institutions (Military Friendly)
• #2 military spouse-friendly school among Tier 1 research institutions (Military Friendly)
• #3 graduate nuclear engineering program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #3 graduate biological/agricultural engineering program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #4 online bachelor’s programs nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #5 veterinary medicine program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #6 in research expenditures nationally for universities without a medical school (National Science Foundation)
• #8 undergraduate biological/agricultural engineering program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #8 in MBA programs with the best return on investment (Poets & Quants)
• #8 best for financial aid among public universities nationally (Princeton Review)
• #9 best value among public universities nationally (Princeton Review)
• #11 graduate statistics program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #18 graduate applied mathematics program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)
• #19 online graduate engineering program nationally (U.S. News & World Report)

Student and Faculty Success

• More than 100 of our students were national scholars and fellows over the past five years.
• Graduate and undergraduate students from across NC State were recognized with 17 Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation during the 2023-2024 academic year.
• Five students from NC State received grants from the Fulbright U.S. Student Program in 2024. The program provides students with opportunities to study, teach and conduct research internationally as they deepen NC State’s relationships with the global community.
• In 2023, two NC State students were awarded funds to pursue a summer travel-work experience as part of the inaugural cohort for the Obama-Chesky Scholarship for Public Service, also known as the Voyager Scholarship.
• The Chancellor’s Faculty Excellence Program groups world-leading educators and researchers into 20 interdisciplinary clusters, including bioinformatics, precision medicine and public science.
• Twenty-five of our faculty are members of the National Academies.

Partnerships and Research

• $517 million in new sponsored research awards for fiscal year 2024 — the highest in university history
• #3 in the nation for the share of our research sponsored by private industry (for universities without a medical school), according to the Association of University Technology Managers
• Lead university for two National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers:
  • The FREEDM Systems Center, researching smart-grid technology
  • The ASSIST Center, developing wearable, self-powered health monitors
• The first North American location for an IBM Quantum Hub, a collaborative effort to advance quantum computing
• Future home to the Integrative Sciences Building, a $180 million investment that will house the Integrative Sciences Initiative to drive interdisciplinary synergy in the sciences
• Future home to the Bezos Center for Sustainable Protein, a biomanufacturing hub that will develop dietary proteins that are healthy, delicious, affordable and sustainable
• Home to two major interdisciplinary National Science Foundation-funded centers launched in 2021:
  • The NSF AI Institute for Engaged Learning, a $20 million center that aims to create artificial intelligence tools to advance human learning and education
  • The NSF Science and Technology Center — Science and Technologies for Phosphorus Sustainability (STEPS), a $25 million center that studies how to reduce dependence on mined phosphates and the amount of phosphorus that leaches into soil and water
• A hub for driving 5G innovation through the $24 million Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless (AERPAW) project
• A partner in seven of the 16 public-private institutes that make up Manufacturing USA, a federal initiative to revitalize the U.S. manufacturing industry
• Home to the Southeast Climate Adaptation Science Center, one of nine such regional centers in the United States

Centennial Campus

• A nationally acclaimed public-private research campus where 70+ corporate, government and nonprofit partners work alongside 70+ research and academic units
• Home to the College of Engineering, the Wilson College of Textiles, the N.C. Plant Sciences Initiative and the Institute for Emerging Issues, a think tank focused on tackling big issues that affect North Carolina’s prosperity
• Supporting lifelong learning through K-12, graduate and continuing education, distance and online learning, and executive education
• Houses the Office of Research and Innovation, which supports the university’s research and commercialization mission
• Houses the James B. Hunt Jr. Library: Winner of the prestigious Stanford Prize for Innovation in Research Libraries, and one of the most technologically advanced learning and collaboration spaces in the world
• Offers a wealth of dining options, housing and amenities, most of which are available to the public

Economic Impact

• 200+ startups and spinoffs based on NC State research, attracting a total of $1.7 billion in venture capital
• #2 nationwide for active licenses and options; #3 nationwide for startups launched among universities without a medical school (AUTM Licensing Activity Survey, 2021)
• 1,500+ patents issued in the U.S., yielding 600+ consumer products
• The Wolfpack Investor Network (WIN) matches NC State alumni investors with promising university-affiliated startups to facilitate mentoring, support and angel investments for entrepreneurial businesses. WIN members have invested more than $13 million in 23 NC State startups.
• The Milken Institute, an economic think tank, cited the collaboration and innovation fostered by NC State — and particularly by Centennial Campus — as key reasons why Raleigh is one of the best-performing large cities in the United States.
• NC State and its students, alumni and associated startups generate $6.5 billion of North Carolina income annually.

Alumni

• NC State has more than 300,000 living alumni, approximately 160,000 of whom live in North Carolina.
• The NC State Alumni Association provides opportunities for all NC State alumni to engage with and stay connected to our ever-expanding Wolfpack.
• Wolfpack alumni stay in touch via nearly 40 affinity groups and regional networks around the United States.

Philanthropy and Giving

• NC State’s sixth annual Day of Giving in 2024 raised more than $46 million from 21,920 gifts — the most gifts NC State has ever received on a Day of Giving.
• Alumnus Frederick Eugene Wilson Jr. and the Wilson family gave the transformational gift of $28 million to name the Wilson College of Textiles in perpetuity.
• Alumni Edward P. Fitts Jr. and Edgar S. Woolard jointly gave a $25 million gift allowing the university to break ground on Fitts-Woolard Hall, which will house programs and facilities of the College of Engineering.
• Alumnus John W. McRary made a $10 million gift to the College of Sciences Foundation — the largest estate gift in the college’s history — creating the $6.5 million John W. McRary Physics Graduate Support Endowment and the $3.5 million John W. McRary Mathematics Graduate Support Endowment.
• An extraordinary gift from Bill and Frances Henry funded the restoration and completion of the Memorial Belltower, including the installation of 55 bells.
• A group of generous supporters of NC State athletics made a $5 million pledge to name the James T. Valvano Arena in Reynolds Coliseum.
• The Think and Do the Extraordinary Campaign — the most ambitious fundraising effort in NC State’s history — surpassed its $1.6 billion goal two years early, raising a total of $2.1 billion by the campaign’s end in 2021.
• Donors created some 2,100 new funds and 636 new scholarships and fellowships through the campaign.
• Of the 234 endowed faculty positions at NC State, 104 were created during the campaign.

Recent Accolades

• Four NC State students — physics and mathematics graduate Mia de los Reyes, chemical engineering and economics graduate Chris Cooper, physics and computer science graduate Ana Sofia Uzsoy and computer science and genetics graduate Nikhil Milind — have earned prestigious Churchill Scholarships for graduate study at elite universities in the United Kingdom. NC State was one of only two schools in the country with two scholars in the 2020-2021 academic year.
• Six NC State faculty members were elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2024.
• In 2024, seven NC State faculty members were recognized with the prestigious National Science Foundation’s Early-Career Development Program Award.
• The National Science Foundation awarded its prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship to 17 NC State students in 2024. The fellowship program recognizes outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.
• Craig Yencho, William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Horticultural Science and program leader for NC State’s sweet potato breeding and genetics program, received the University of North Carolina System’s 2024 Oliver Max Gardner Award — the UNC System’s highest faculty honor.
• In 2023, Rodolphe Barrangou, Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences, was elected to the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• In 2023, two NC State students won a Goldwater Scholarship, presented to outstanding undergraduates preparing for careers as mathematicians, scientists and engineers.