North Carolina State University, founded in 1887, is a public university and the largest four-year college in the state. * * * There are more than 23,000 undergraduates, 100 courses and more than 400 societies and student organizations.

In-state tuition is $9,058, and out-of-state tuition is $27,406. The Greek community accommodates more than 20% of the students in the school. In the postgraduate stage, the top schools are engineering college, education college, management college, bioengineering and agricultural engineering.

Its famous alumni include former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Olympic swimming champion and gold medalist Cullen Jones.