NC has 17 public college/universities with different articulation agreements depending on major and degree. They are all part of the UNC system with 17 very different and unique campuses many offering undiscovered gems here on CC.
The community college system here offers many programs that transfer directly to the 4 year programs. Depending on where you reside here in the state they are easy to commute to.
We moved here from CA (5 kiddos) and all at some point have attended both the community colleges and the undergraduate and graduate programs at the 4 year public universities. And yes he will need to live here for a year if he wants to qualify for in-state rates which are beyond affordable.
Some of the graduate programs (med school at UNC) charge out-of-state rates for the first year for OOS but after that you are re-classified as in-state eligible for in-state rates.
Undergraduate can be more difficult however, the rules are specified at the different institutions. Some scholarships include in-state tuition and then additional monies after that. Since he is over 24 he is filing as an independent and his financial aid will be reflective of that.
Each UNC campus has varying tuition rates, visit each website and it will be illuminating, UNC Asheville is one of the few public LAC nestled in the mountains of Asheville, with a small undergrad population. NCSU has the engineering school, vet school, business school and lots of STEM (plastics…). Just gave an example of 2, Wilmington is on the water having a great marine bio program, many have wonderful nursing programs…ECU has a new dental school and a small med school accepting ONLY in-state students…NC A&T has a new nano-engineering campus with new degree programs. The list is exhaustive.
Hope this helps, ask more questions if you need to.
Kat