NCSSM Admissions by Region
NCSSM Admissions in the Western Region
78 students from the 13 counties of North Carolina's Western education region were enrolled at NCSSM in 2025-26, 5.3% of the school's Residential and Online students. Here is every county, by campus.
Western Counties at NCSSM, 2025-26
12 of the 13 counties had at least one NCSSM student. The region's public schools had 6,141 tenth graders, 5.3% of the state's.
| County | Durham | Morganton | Online | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buncombe | 13 | 14 | 7 | 34 |
| Cherokee | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Clay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Graham | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Haywood | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Henderson | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| Jackson | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Macon | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Madison | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Polk | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rutherford | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Swain | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| Transylvania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Region total | 24 | 37 | 17 | 78 |
10th graders are NC public-school students (county and city districts, not charter or private schools), from NC DPI.
Regions Do Not Decide Admission. Districts Do.
NCSSM admits by congressional district, not by county or region. State law (G.S. 116-235) asks for “an equal number of qualified applicants” from each district, and NCSSM assigns a team of readers to each district. Western counties fall in congressional Districts 11 and 14. Each county page lists its district and the other counties in it.
Applying to NCSSM from the Western region
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.
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Common Questions
How many NCSSM students come from the Western region?
78 students in 2025-26, 5.3% of NCSSM's Residential and Online students. Buncombe County sent the most, with 34. NCSSM's dashboard shows none from Polk County.
Which campus do Western students attend?
More Western residential students attended NCSSM-Morganton in 2025-26: 24 at Durham and 37 at Morganton. Another 17 took NCSSM Online.
Does NCSSM admit a set number of students from each region?
No. North Carolina law has NCSSM admit, as far as practicable, an equal number of qualified applicants from each congressional district. Education regions play no part in admission; we group counties by region only to make the numbers easier to read.
Sources, last checked September 27, 2026
- NCSSM Office of Institutional Effectiveness: Geography of NCSSM Students (Enrollment dashboard)
- NC Department of Public Instruction: Education Districts (eight regions, effective April 2015)
- N.C. General Statutes 116-235 (NCSSM admissions)
- NCSSM Admissions: Admissions Criteria
- N.C. General Assembly, S.L. 2025-95 (Senate Bill 249), 2025 congressional plan
- NC DPI Statistical Profile, Table A1: Final Pupils by Year and Grade (LEA level), 2025-26 month-final enrollment
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.
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