NC State University was founded with a purpose: to create economic, societal and intellectual prosperity for the people of North Carolina and the nation. What began as a land-grant institution teaching the agricultural and mechanical arts is now a preeminent research enterprise where world-leading faculty provide an unparalleled experiential education to high-performing students from around the globe. NC State University's 12 colleges offer more than 300 undergraduate and graduate degrees across all major academic disciplines. We are located in Raleigh, a city consistently rated among the best places to work and live in the country. Raleigh is a cornerstone of the vibrant Research Triangle region, where NC State partners such as SAS, Cisco, GlaxoSmithKline and Lenovo have created a high-tech hot spot. Our pioneering research campus, Centennial Campus, houses more than 70 corporate, government and nonprofit partners who work side by side with NC State research and academic units. Centennial Campus is also home to the ultramodern James B. Hunt Jr. Library, one of the most technologically advanced learning and collaboration spaces in the world. NC State is the only university in the country leading two of the National Science Foundation's Engineering Research Centers. We were also the first university in North America to establish an IBM Q Hub as part of the global IBM Q Network to advance quantum computing. NC State is a national leader in giving students the opportunity to learn how to solve real-world problems, so it's no wonder that Princeton Review and Entrepreneur recognized the university as one of the nation's best for undergraduate entrepreneurship. Our alumni also enjoy the highest starting salaries among the state's public university graduates and graduate with below-average debt. Year after year, NC State is nationally ranked as one of the best values in higher education for its combination of high academic standards, generous financial aid and affordable tuition. The university's programs in honors education, living-and-learning communities, study abroad, cooperative education and service learning give students boundless opportunities to develop the personal and professional skills they need to put knowledge into practice.
