NCSSM Admissions by County: Students From All 100 NC Counties (2025-26)

NCSSM in 2025-26

NCSSM-Durham: 675 students from 75 counties.
NCSSM-Morganton: 300 students from 62 counties. The campus opened in 2022.
NCSSM Online: 498 students from 57 counties, taking classes while staying at their own high schools.
Counties represented: 92 of 100 had at least one Residential or Online student.

NCSSM Admits by Congressional District

State law (G.S. 116-235) says: “To the extent practicable without jeopardizing admission standards, an equal number of qualified applicants shall be admitted to the program and to the residential summer institutes in science and mathematics from each of North Carolina's congressional districts.”

NCSSM's admissions criteria page says its application readers are “teams of three, with each team assigned to review applications from a specific congressional district.” So a county's count reflects how many strong applicants it has and how its district's seats were shared, not a county quota. Each county page names its district under the 2025 congressional plan. NCSSM does not publish which map it uses in a given cycle or how many students it admits from each district.

By Region

Counties grouped by the eight education regions NC DPI uses, which it calls education districts. They are for reading the numbers only; NCSSM does not admit by region.

All 100 Counties

Enrolled NCSSM students in 2025-26. Residential is Durham and Morganton together. District is the county's congressional district under the 2025 plan.

NCSSM students by North Carolina county, 2025-26
County	Residential	Online	Total	District
Alamance	10	3	13	9
Alexander	2	0	2	5
Alleghany	1	0	1	5
Anson	1	0	1	8
Ashe	0	1	1	5
Avery	0	0	0	11
Beaufort	6	0	6	1
Bertie	1	1	2	1
Bladen	0	3	3	7
Brunswick	4	1	5	7
Buncombe	27	7	34	11
Burke	11	3	14	14
Cabarrus	43	39	82	6 and 8
Caldwell	5	0	5	5
Camden	1	2	3	1
Carteret	12	11	23	1
Caswell	0	0	0	13
Catawba	19	7	26	10
Chatham	14	9	23	4 and 9
Cherokee	3	0	3	11
Chowan	3	1	4	1
Clay	1	0	1	11
Cleveland	3	4	7	14
Columbus	1	3	4	7
Craven	10	5	15	1
Cumberland	29	5	34	7 and 9
Currituck	7	0	7	1
Dare	9	7	16	1
Davidson	3	8	11	6
Davie	1	0	1	6
Duplin	2	2	4	3
Durham	18	15	33	4
Edgecombe	6	0	6	1
Forsyth	36	17	53	6 and 10
Franklin	3	0	3	13
Gaston	2	7	9	14
Gates	2	0	2	1
Graham	1	0	1	11
Granville	4	0	4	1 and 13
Greene	1	0	1	3
Guilford	47	25	72	5, 6 and 9
Halifax	6	1	7	1
Harnett	4	0	4	13
Haywood	4	0	4	11
Henderson	9	3	12	11
Hertford	3	0	3	1
Hoke	0	0	0	9
Hyde	0	0	0	1
Iredell	34	17	51	10
Jackson	3	2	5	11
Johnston	14	3	17	13
Jones	2	0	2	3
Lee	2	2	4	13
Lenoir	2	0	2	3
Lincoln	4	4	8	10
Macon	4	0	4	11
Madison	1	2	3	11
Martin	1	0	1	1
McDowell	5	1	6	11
Mecklenburg	116	62	178	8, 12 and 14
Mitchell	1	0	1	11
Montgomery	5	3	8	8
Moore	11	11	22	9
Nash	8	2	10	1
New Hanover	32	18	50	7
Northampton	0	0	0	1
Onslow	7	2	9	1 and 3
Orange	40	25	65	4
Pamlico	1	4	5	1
Pasquotank	2	4	6	1
Pender	4	1	5	7
Perquimans	2	2	4	1
Person	4	2	6	13
Pitt	26	18	44	3
Polk	0	0	0	11 and 14
Randolph	4	3	7	9
Richmond	3	0	3	8
Robeson	12	3	15	7 and 8
Rockingham	4	4	8	5
Rowan	4	0	4	6
Rutherford	3	1	4	14
Sampson	6	3	9	3 and 7
Scotland	0	1	1	8
Stanly	1	0	1	8
Stokes	2	0	2	5
Surry	2	0	2	5
Swain	4	2	6	11
Transylvania	1	0	1	11
Tyrrell	1	0	1	1
Union	47	28	75	8
Vance	2	3	5	1
Wake	123	71	194	2, 4 and 13
Warren	0	0	0	1
Washington	2	0	2	1
Watauga	16	4	20	5
Wayne	12	0	12	3
Wilkes	9	0	9	5
Wilson	8	0	8	3
Yadkin	0	0	0	10
Yancey	3	0	3	11

What NCSSM Does Not Publish

NCSSM publishes enrolled students by county. It does not publish applicants or admissions by county or by congressional district, so these pages do not show acceptance rates. Where a figure is not published, we say so rather than estimate it.

Applying to NCSSM this year

The application essays and the Math Assessment are the parts a student can prepare for. Our free NCSSM admissions countdown has every published date, and the NCSSM eligibility checker walks through the residency and grade rules.

NCSSM Blueprint is a structured NCSSM preparation plan with asynchronous essay review and Discovery Day practice tests, designed to fit your schedule. It includes up to 3 rounds of asynchronous essay editing, 25 full-length Discovery Day math practice tests, email support, and access to successful essay examples.

See NCSSM Blueprint

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Common Questions

Which North Carolina counties send the most students to NCSSM?

In 2025-26, Wake (194), Mecklenburg (178) and Cabarrus (82), by NCSSM's enrollment count for the Residential and Online programs.

How many counties have students at NCSSM?

92 of North Carolina's 100 counties had at least one Residential or Online student in 2025-26. The 8 with none were Avery, Caswell, Hoke, Hyde, Northampton, Polk, Warren and Yadkin.

Does NCSSM publish acceptance rates by county?

No. NCSSM publishes enrolled students by county, not applicants or admissions, so a county-level acceptance rate cannot be calculated from official data. Admission is decided by congressional district.

Sources, last checked September 27, 2026

Student counts are NCSSM enrollment by county of residence (juniors and seniors, counted after the 10-day census date), not applicants or admissions. Distances are straight-line miles from each county's Census center point. EduAvenues is independent and not affiliated with NCSSM.

NCSSM Students From Every North Carolina County