Raleigh City Guide
ABA Programs in Raleigh
No university in the Raleigh metro offers a master's in applied behavior analysis, and thirty miles down the road sits one of the most influential autism programs in the world. That combination defines training here: you study elsewhere and you do your fieldwork somewhere exceptional. This guide covers both halves.
Key Takeaways
- 01No university in the Raleigh metro offers an ABA master's. North Carolina's programs sit in Charlotte and Wilmington, and the two Charlotte options are both reachable online or by hybrid delivery.
- 02UNC Charlotte's M.Ed. in Special Education with an ABA concentration is delivered online at $341.21 per credit hour for North Carolina residents — one of the cheapest published public rates in the country.
- 03The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at UNC-Chapel Hill, thirty miles west, is North Carolina's federally designated UCEDD and LEND program, and UNC also holds an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center.
- 04The UNC TEACCH Autism Program, founded in 1972 and among the most influential autism programs in the world, runs regional centers across the state from its Chapel Hill base — including one serving the Raleigh area.
- 05The metro median is $59,600 (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 21-1018), essentially level with the national figure, with a relatively high floor of $42,590.
Raleigh is a metro with excellent access to behavior analysis and no way to study it locally. Both halves of that are worth taking seriously.
On the degree, North Carolina's programs are elsewhere. UNC Charlotte runs an M.Ed. in Special Education with an Applied Behavior Analysis concentration, delivered online at $341.21 per credit for North Carolina residents — an unusually low public rate. Northeastern University's Charlotte campus runs a 30-credit M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis in hybrid form. And UNC Wilmington, about 130 miles southeast, is ABAI-accredited at master's and doctoral level — the state's strongest credential and a relocation rather than a commute.
On the fieldwork, Raleigh is thirty miles from an institution most of the field knows by name. The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at UNC-Chapel Hill is North Carolina's UCEDD and LEND program, and UNC holds an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center alongside it. The UNC TEACCH Autism Program, founded in 1972, is among the most influential autism programs anywhere and operates regional centers across the state, including one serving the Raleigh area. For a metro with no local degree, that is an extraordinary training environment within half an hour's drive.
Metro scope
Includes: Raleigh, Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Morrisville. The Raleigh-Cary metro, covering Wake, Franklin and Johnston counties — the city, the fast-growing western suburbs through Cary, Apex and Morrisville, and the southern ring into Holly Springs and Fuquay-Varina. Durham and Chapel Hill sit in a neighboring metro but inside the same Research Triangle labor market.
Note: North Carolina is a single-state metro here, and its licensing framework is recent. North Carolina licenses behavior analysts through the North Carolina Behavior Analyst Licensure Board and has only done so since 2021, which makes it one of the newer regimes in the country — anything written about practicing in North Carolina before that describes a state with no license at all. Your BCBA is the qualifying credential and the state license is your practice authority. The boundary that matters here is a metro one rather than a state one: Durham and Chapel Hill are a separate metropolitan area statistically and the same labor market practically, which is where North Carolina's developmental disabilities research infrastructure sits.
The programs
The ABA programs Raleigh students actually use
3 programs
UNC Charlotte — M.Ed. in Special Education, Applied Behavior Analysis concentration
Charlotte; delivered online · Charlotte, NC · No commute; online delivery
- Tuition
- $341.21 per credit hour for North Carolina residents, $1,305.87 per credit hour for non-residents
- Length
- 33 credit hours, generally 6 to 7 semesters depending on admit term
- Format
- 100% online, with most coursework delivered in live synchronous sessions
- Accreditation
- BCBA Pathway 2 coursework; UNC Charlotte Cato College of Education
- Part-time
- Online delivery designed for working professionals across the state
- At $341.21 per credit for North Carolina residents, among the cheapest published public rates for a qualifying route in the country
- Thirty-three credit hours over six to seven semesters, delivered online with most coursework in live synchronous sessions, so a Raleigh student never needs to be in Charlotte
- UNC Charlotte states the coursework "will meet the BCBA Pathway 2 Eligibility" and aligns with the BACB 6th Edition coursework requirements
- The non-resident rate of $1,305.87 is nearly four times the resident figure — establish residency first if you are moving to the state
- Not ABAI-accredited; North Carolina's accredited programs are at UNC Wilmington
Northeastern University, Charlotte — M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis
Charlotte campus; hybrid delivery · Charlotte, NC · Hybrid; Charlotte is about 165 miles southwest of Raleigh
- Tuition
- Published per-credit rates are on Northeastern's tuition page; confirm the current Charlotte-campus rate
- Length
- 30 credits
- Format
- Hybrid
- Accreditation
- BCBA Pathway 2 coursework; Northeastern University
- Part-time
- Designed for working professionals
- Thirty credits, which is at the short end for a qualifying master's
- A dedicated applied behavior analysis degree rather than a special education degree with a concentration
- Hybrid delivery means some in-person contact in Charlotte — a genuine consideration from Raleigh
- Northeastern's national network is a real asset if you expect to move states later
- Not ABAI-accredited; the Northeastern master's carried on other campuses does not change that here
UNC Wilmington — M.S. in Psychology, Applied Behavior Analysis concentration
Wilmington, about 130 miles southeast · Wilmington, NC · A relocation rather than a commute
- Tuition
- Published per-credit rates are on the UNCW student accounts page; confirm the current graduate rate
- Length
- Master's in psychology with an applied behavior analysis concentration
- Format
- On-campus
- Accreditation
- ABAI-accredited at master's and doctoral level; UNC Wilmington Department of Psychology
- Part-time
- A campus research program; confirm pacing with the department
- North Carolina's only ABAI-accredited ABA programs, at both master's and doctoral level
- The strongest credential available in the state, and the route if a doctorate is in your plans
- A psychology framing rather than an education one, which suits clinical and research careers
- One hundred and thirty miles from Raleigh: a move, not a commute
- Public university pricing, which makes the accreditation considerably cheaper than a private equivalent
Cost of living
What it costs to live in the Triangle while you study
The Triangle is a moderately priced metro that has grown quickly: the BEA index puts the whole basket 1.8% below the national average and housing 3.5% above it. Neither figure is alarming, and both are well below the coastal markets that Research Triangle salaries are often compared with. The practical geography here is the Triangle itself — Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill are separate metros statistically and one labor market in practice, which widens the placement options considerably.
Housing, 2024
103.5
3.5% above the national average
Everything, 2024
98.2
1.8% below the national average
Metro median pay covers
$60,692
of national-average spending
Housing runs 3.5% above the national average, which is the single biggest reason the overall cost of living lands where it does.
Both figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for Raleigh-Cary, NC, 2024, where the national average is 100. Housing is the services-housing component; the second figure is the whole basket.
Housing price level
3.5% above the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity for housing, 2024
All-items price level
1.8% below the national average
BEA Regional Price Parity, all items, 2024
Transit
GoRaleigh and GoTriangle bus
GoTriangle links Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill; local coverage is thin outside the cores
Car
Required for fieldwork
The Triangle spans two metros and Chapel Hill is thirty miles from downtown Raleigh
Tuition, UNC Charlotte M.Ed. (in-state)
$341.21 per credit hour
$1,305.87 per credit hour for non-residents; delivered online
Distance to the state UCEDD
30 miles
The Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities is at UNC-Chapel Hill
Clinical fieldwork
BCBA certification in Raleigh: where Triangle students do supervised fieldwork
This is where Raleigh stops looking like a metro without a program and starts looking like one of the better places in the South to train. Thirty miles west, UNC-Chapel Hill holds North Carolina's UCEDD, its LEND program, an Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, and the TEACCH Autism Program. Twenty-five miles away, Duke Health adds a second academic medical system. Locally, Wake County runs one of the largest school districts in the country.
Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities
The CIDD at UNC-Chapel Hill is North Carolina's University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities and runs the state's LEND interdisciplinary training program.
UNC TEACCH Autism Program
TEACCH, founded at UNC in 1972, is among the most influential autism programs in the world and runs regional centers across North Carolina, including one serving the Raleigh area.
Wake County Public School System
WCPSS is one of the largest school districts in the United States and covers the entire county, which makes it a single very large route into school-based work.
Duke Health and UNC Health
Duke Health in Durham and UNC Health in Chapel Hill put two academic medical systems within thirty miles of Raleigh.
Autism Society of North Carolina
The Autism Society of North Carolina, headquartered in Raleigh, runs services statewide and is among the metro's established employers of behavior-analytic staff.
Hiring market
Major ABA employers across the Raleigh metro
Raleigh's employer market is shaped by the Research Triangle: two academic medical systems and a UCEDD within thirty miles, a very large county school district, and a statewide autism organization headquartered in the city. The relatively high pay floor of $42,590 is consistent with a market where institutional employers rather than small agencies set the reference wage.
Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities
University center for developmental disabilities
North Carolina's UCEDD and LEND program at UNC-Chapel Hill, thirty miles from Raleigh. A training destination and a research employer.
UNC TEACCH Autism Program
Statewide autism program
Founded at UNC in 1972 and among the most influential autism programs in the world, running regional centers across North Carolina.
Wake County Public School System
Public school district
One of the largest districts in the United States, covering the whole county, and the metro's dominant school-based employer.
Autism Society of North Carolina
Statewide nonprofit
Headquartered in Raleigh, delivering services across the state and employing behavior-analytic staff at scale.
Duke Health
Academic health system
Twenty-five miles away in Durham, giving the Triangle a second academic medical system alongside UNC Health.
Side by side
Comparing the 3 Raleigh programs
The same programs as above, set against each other on the things that decide which one you apply to: how it is delivered, how long it runs, what it costs, and whether it asks for the GRE.
| Program | Format | Length | Tuition | GRE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNC Charlotte — M.Ed. in Special Education, Applied Behavior Analysis concentration Charlotte, NC | 100% online, with most coursework delivered in live synchronous sessions | 33 credit hours, generally 6 to 7 semesters depending on admit term | $341.21 per credit hour for North Carolina residents, $1,305.87 per credit hour for non-residents | Not required |
| Northeastern University, Charlotte — M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis Charlotte, NC | Hybrid | 30 credits | Published per-credit rates are on Northeastern's tuition page; confirm the current Charlotte-campus rate | Not required |
| UNC Wilmington — M.S. in Psychology, Applied Behavior Analysis concentration Wilmington, NC | On-campus | Master's in psychology with an applied behavior analysis concentration | Published per-credit rates are on the UNCW student accounts page; confirm the current graduate rate | Not required |
Metro pay
BCBA salary in the Raleigh-Cary metro
Metro median
$59,600
National median
$59,350
10th percentile
$42,590
90th percentile
$92,460
BLS metro median, May 2025
$59,600
$250 above the national median
Cost of living, 2024
98.2
1.8% below the national average
Worth nationally
$60,692
the same pay in national-average dollars
Because prices run 1.8% below the national average, $59,600 here goes about as far as $60,692 would nationally.
BLS does not publish a separate occupation for behavior analysts. This is the May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018 (Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors), the category BCBAs are counted in, which also contains counseling roles that typically pay less. Read it as a floor for the metro, not as BCBA pay. Wages: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, Raleigh-Cary, NC. Cost of living is the BEA Regional Price Parity for the metro, all items, 2024, where the national average is 100. It is the most recent year BEA publishes, so it sits one year behind the wage figure. Prices: BEA Regional Price Parities.
The published figure for this metro is $59,600, the BLS OEWS May 2025 median for SOC 21-1018, Substance Abuse, Behavioral Disorder, and Mental Health Counselors, across the Raleigh-Cary metro. That is $250 above the national median of $59,350 for the same code — level, to any practical purpose. BLS publishes no separate occupation for behavior analysts, and SOC 21-1018 also contains counseling roles requiring neither a master's nor board certification, so read $59,600 as a floor rather than as BCBA pay.
The 10th percentile is $42,590, a relatively high floor, and the 90th is $92,460. Prices across the metro run 1.8% below the national average, so $59,600 goes about as far as $60,692 would nationally. Housing runs 3.5% above national, modest for a metro that has grown this fast.
The comparison within North Carolina is worth making. Charlotte, where the state's two reachable master's programs are, pays $56,130 against Raleigh's $59,600, and its housing costs 2.4% below the national average against Raleigh's 3.5% above. The two metros end up close on real terms, which means the deciding factor is not money — it is that Raleigh sits thirty miles from the CIDD and TEACCH and Charlotte does not. For national context see our BCBA salary guide.
Other cities
Other cities in North Carolina
We also cover one other metro in North Carolina. If you can commute, comparing them is worth ten minutes — the program list changes, but so does the fieldwork market, and that is the half your location actually constrains.
Nearby metros
If you are flexible on metro
North Carolina's two ABA-program metros are Charlotte and Wilmington, and the same state license covers all of them. The Triangle's advantage is fieldwork rather than coursework.
ABA Programs in Charlotte
Where the state's two reachable master's programs are, at a lower metro median and lower housing costs.
ABA Programs in Richmond
Three hours north, in the Virginia licensing regime, with a similar market and its own UCEDD.
ABA Programs in North Carolina
The full state picture: every North Carolina program including UNC Wilmington's accredited ones, and the 2021 license.
Common questions
Frequently Asked Questions
01How many ABA programs are in Raleigh?+
02Do I need a license to practice ABA in Raleigh?+
03What is TEACCH and why does it matter for Raleigh students?+
04How much do BCBAs make in Raleigh?+
05Should I study in Raleigh or Charlotte?+
06Is Raleigh a good place to start a BCBA career?+
Sources
- UNC Charlotte, M.Ed. in Special Education with an Applied Behavior Analysis concentration
- Northeastern University, M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis — Charlotte
- UNC Wilmington, applied behavior analysis programs
- Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities, UNC-Chapel Hill (UCEDD/LEND)
- North Carolina Behavior Analyst Licensure Board
- BACB, U.S. Licensure of Behavior Analysts by State
- BLS OEWS May 2025, Raleigh-Cary MSA (SOC 21-1018)
- ABAI Accredited Programs Directory