Hi!! @EconPop
Fellow NC resident waving at ya!!
The above posters are all correct in that without some more info (stats) it is hard to make up a list of possible schools. I do know that with my 5 kiddos we saw a lot of financial aid packages that differed by $15,000+ with same EFC.
Also with the income of the second parent and possible real estate assets those 2 factors can make assessing FA packages difficult, esp. without knowing the specifics.
Have you tried Princeton’s aid calculator? They do a pretty good job even for more complicated situation’s.
Is your son eligible for the Carolina Covenant?
https://carolinacovenant.unc.edu/
Or the Parks at NCSU?
https://park.ncsu.edu/
Duke does give some preference for in-state students.
As far as OOS as an econ major Univ of Penn has some wonderful programs at Wharton and p’ton also with both meeting full need.
If you can provide us with more info we can all help so much better. One of my son’s graduated with an econ degree so I do know what your search will be like.
Kat