Raleigh Has the Largest Student Population with 68,816 Students Enrolled in North Carolina

The top city with the largest student population in North Carolina is Raleigh, NC with 68,816 students enrolled across 17 colleges.

While Raleigh has the largest student population, it is not the city with the most colleges. Charlotte has the highest number of colleges with 18 schools (57,341 students) in North Carolina. You can check the cities with the most colleges in North Carolina here.

The largest college in Raleigh is North Carolina State University at Raleigh with 38,464 students enrolled.

Other top cities in North Carolina include

North Carolina Cities with Largest College Student Population

The following table lists cities with the largest student populations in North Carolina, including the total number of schools, total enrollment, undergraduate and graduate students , along with the distribution of men and women students across institutions. Click on any city to explore detailed information about colleges in that area. Each page also includes information about community colleges and trade schoools in the metropolitan region and nearby cities.

North Carolina Cities with Largest College Student Population
CityTotal EnrollmentUndergraduateGraduateOnline EnrollmentMenWomen
Raleigh, NC17 Schools68,81658,43410,38215,46332,94035,876
Charlotte, NC18 Schools57,34150,6666,67510,87425,75931,582
Greensboro, NC11 Schools39,00033,1125,8889,63413,22525,775
Wilmington, NC4 Schools33,10829,5173,5918,74113,28519,823
Chapel Hill, NC2 Schools32,63621,08411,5521,85812,82719,809
Durham, NC6 Schools31,48518,52912,9566,45912,18619,299
Greenville, NC2 Schools26,99521,5015,4948,35610,63216,363
Winston-Salem, NC7 Schools24,74119,8174,9246,5359,03915,702
Fayetteville, NC8 Schools21,68020,1761,5049,2938,13213,548
Boone, NC1 School21,57019,5602,0102,5519,32912,241