Research · Scholarships · October 2026
Scholarships in North Carolina: the 1 state program and what each asks for
As of October 2026: North Carolina has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Next NC Scholarship: At least $3,000/year at a community college.
The table holds every state-funded award we could confirm for a North Carolina high school graduate going to college. It does not hold federal aid, or a scholarship that comes from one college rather than from the state.
Analysis: Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach, highschoolreach.com), October 2026. Figures and the table may be quoted with attribution to Test Prep Gurus.
The findings, in plain English
North Carolina runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores. Next NC Scholarship is one of them. 0 of the 1 programs we could read name a GPA, and 0 name a test score. A need-based award asks about family income instead, through the FAFSA.
Next NC Scholarship is the award to read first. What Next NC Scholarship pays: At least $3,000/year at a community college. The table carries the deadline and the renewal rule for each one.
What this table does not tell you. Every figure on the table was read off the state's own page for that program. Nothing is estimated and nothing is carried over from an earlier year.
Every state scholarship in North Carolina
Read the row, then open the state's own page before you count on a figure.
| Program | Merit or need | What it pays | GPA it asks for | Test score it asks for | Who qualifies | Deadline | Renewable | Official page |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Next NC Scholarship | Merit and need | At least $3,000/year at a community college; at least $5,000/year at a UNC System public university; combines the federal Pell Grant with NC state aid | — | — | North Carolina resident eligible for in-state tuition; high school graduate or equivalency completer; enrolled in an eligible undergraduate program, at least 6 credit hours/semester; FAFSA with Student Aid Index (SAI) at or below 7,500; meets Pell eligibility criteria; meets Satisfactory Academic Progress; not in default on a state loan/grant; capped at 6 semesters (2-yr), 10 semesters (4-yr), or 12 semesters (5-yr) of state grant aid | June 1 priority deadline (FAFSA) for maximum award; applications after June 1 are reviewed in order received as funding allows | Automatic each year a FAFSA is filed and eligibility is met; no additional forms | Source |
Every row is a state-funded or state-administered award for a North Carolina high school graduate going to an undergraduate program, as of October 2026. A scholarship from a single college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all left out. A blank cell means the state's own page does not state it. Dollar figures and GPA floors change every year.
How to read a state scholarship
State awards come in two shapes. A merit award asks about grades, a course list, or a test score, and it does not care what a family earns. A need-based award asks about income and assets through the FAFSA, and it does not care about grades. Some awards ask about both, and the table calls those merit and need.
The deadline column is the one families miss. For most need-based state aid the deadline is really the FAFSA deadline, and it falls months before a college asks for a decision. A merit award more often has no application at all: the state or the high school nominates the student from records it already holds.
What a family should do with this
Open the official page in the last column for the one or two programs your student plausibly qualifies for, and write down two dates: the state aid deadline and the FAFSA deadline. Those are the two that close. In North Carolina the earliest date on this table is the one to put on the calendar first.
Then look past the state. A state award is usually the smaller half of an offer. The college's own merit grid and its net price for your family income move more money than any state program on this page, and both are published.
Questions parents ask
What scholarships does North Carolina offer?
North Carolina has 1 state scholarship program for students who graduate from its own high schools. The table starts with Next NC Scholarship: At least $3,000/year at a community college.
Does North Carolina have a merit scholarship?
North Carolina runs 1 award that turn on grades or scores, and Next NC Scholarship is one of them.
How do I find the rules for a North Carolina scholarship?
Every row links to the page the state publishes for that program. The rules and the dollar figures move from year to year, so the page is the thing to read, not a summary of it.
Method & sources: Programs come from the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority (via CFNC.org) and the agency's own program pages, read in October 2026. The population is a student who graduates from a North Carolina high school and enrolls as an undergraduate. A scholarship offered by one college, a private foundation award, a federal program and a graduate-only award are all out of scope. A value the agency's own page does not state is left blank rather than filled from elsewhere, and a page that could not be read drops every figure.
This brief as data: /research/scholarships-in-north-carolina.json. Free for editorial use with attribution to Test Prep Gurus (High School Reach).
Related: Merit scholarships by college · State scholarships in every state · High schools in North Carolina · Scholarship deadlines