What North Carolina Virtual Academy does

North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA) is a tuition-free, full-time online public charter school serving approximately 4,000 students in grades K-12 across North Carolina. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Durham, NC, NCVA operates under charter authorization from the State of North Carolina and is governed by an independent Board of Directors. The school contracts with Stride, Inc. (formerly K12 Inc.) for curriculum, the Online Learning Solutions (OLS) learning management platform, and operational infrastructure.

NCVA's core instructional offering combines asynchronous multimedia coursework delivered through the K12 OLS platform with synchronous live instruction via Class Connect sessions led by North Carolina-licensed teachers. Supplemental programs include dual enrollment with community colleges (enabling students to earn an associate's degree alongside a high school diploma), NCAA-approved courses for student-athletes, an Academically/Intellectually Gifted (AIG) program, credit recovery, and a Family Academic Support Team (FAST) for at-risk students. Extracurricular offerings include a robotics league, esports league, the K12 Zone community platform, and Strider Squads fitness programming.

NCVA generates revenue through per-pupil public school funding from North Carolina's education system, supplemented by Title I federal allocations. No tuition is charged to families; required costs are limited to basic household supplies and internet connectivity. Enrollment is managed via a statewide lottery system administered through the K12 enrollment portal, with support available via phone, online chat, and web channels. The student base includes general K-12 families, student-athletes seeking NCAA eligibility, college-prep students pursuing dual enrollment, and students with medical, athletic, or social circumstances that make traditional brick-and-mortar schooling a poor fit.

Name

North Carolina Virtual Academy

Legal name

North Carolina Virtual Academy

Website

https://ncva.k12.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

North Carolina Virtual Academy is a tuition-free, full-time online public charter school serving approximately 4,000 K-12 students across North Carolina, powered by K12/Stride's curriculum and online learning platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Online Public Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Full-Time Virtual K–12 Schools (Statewide/Cyber Charters & District Programs) (EDAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Virtual/Online Charter Schools (EDAJACAD), Online Credit Recovery & Alternative Pathways (Virtual) (EDAJADAF), Virtual Tutoring & Academic Intervention (K–12) (EDAJADAH)

Keywords

• Online K-12 education
• Virtual public school
• Charter school education
• Distance learning programs
• Public school funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham, North Carolina

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public School Funding: NCVA operates as a tuition-free public charter school funded by taxpayer dollars and state education budgets. As a public school, it receives per-pupil funding from North Carolina's education system. Financial benefits include lower overhead costs than traditional schools, fewer transportation and facility costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

North Carolina Virtual Academy is a tuition-free, full-time online public charter school serving K-12 students across North Carolina through the K12/Stride online learning platform. Instruction is delivered by North Carolina-licensed teachers via live virtual classes, supplemented by offline materials and learning kits, with students following a structured public school curriculum at home.

Product overview

North Carolina Virtual Academy (NCVA) is a tuition-free, full-time online public charter school serving students in grades K-12, powered by K12's online learning platform. The core offering is the K12 Online School (OLS) platform combined with live Class Connect sessions taught by North Carolina-licensed teachers, supported by a blended K12 curriculum of online lessons and offline materials. NCVA's portfolio includes specialized academic programs (Dual Enrollment, AIG Program, Credit Recovery, NCAA-Approved Courses) and student engagement offerings (K12 Robotics League, K12 Esports League, K12 Zone, Strider Squads), all coordinated through the Family Academic Support Team (FAST). The school uses an enrollment lottery system and attendance tracking via the OLS platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Full-Time K-12 Online Public School Tuition-free, full-time online K-12 education program delivered through the K12/Stride online learning platform with North Carolina-licensed teachers providing live virtual instruction to enrolled students statewide.
• NCAA-Approved College Preparatory Courses

Quantifiable outcome

• 77% of participants showed significant improvement in reading proficiency after 30 minutes of daily engagement with Reading Eggs program
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• 3P LearningminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 August 2024Partnership for the Reading Eggs program in a summer learning camp focused on improving third-grade reading proficiency. Over 70 third graders who had not yet shown proficiency participated in the three-week camp.
• K12/Stride, Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationK12 (now Stride, Inc.) provides the core technology platform, curriculum, and administrative services for NCVA. This includes the Online Learning Solutions (OLS) platform, Class Connect virtual sessions, multimedia curriculum content, and operational infrastructure. The partnership has been in place for over 25 years of combined experience in online education.
• Southern New Hampshire UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGraduates of K12-powered schools can save 20% off tuition at Southern New Hampshire University, providing an educational pathway and financial benefit for NCVA alumni.
• TallominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTallo is a platform recommended by NCVA to help students find college and career options all in one place.
• Community College PartnershipscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCVA offers dual enrollment programs allowing students to earn college credits while in high school through partnerships with community colleges. One student graduated with both a high school diploma and an associate's degree through this program.
• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNCVA is an NCAA-approved school, enabling student-athletes to take courses that count toward the academic requirements for NCAA eligibility. High school credit-bearing courses meet the 16 NCAA-approved courses required for college athlete eligibility.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Stride, Inc. (K12): Stride is the parent platform and service provider to NCVA, operating many of its own tuition-free virtual schools nationwide (e.g., Connections Academy, OHVA) plus paid supplemental learning programs. It is both NCVA's core vendor and its largest sibling competitor across the virtual school category.
• Khan Academy: Khan Academy is a broad free online instruction platform used across K-12, providing video lessons and practice that frequently serve as supplemental resources. While not a chartered school, it competes for learning hours of students who could otherwise attend NCVA.

Direct peers

• Florida Virtual School (FLVS): FLVS is the nation's first state-funded full-time virtual K-12 school, providing tuition-free online public education to Florida students. Although state-run rather than charter, it competes head-to-head with NCVA for online K-12 families and offers comparable NCAA-approved coursework and dual-enrollment options.
• Connections Academy: Connections Academy is the largest U.S. K-12 online public school operator, also powered by Stride (K12 Inc.) technology. It operates tuition-free full-time virtual schools across multiple states using the same OLS platform, NCAA-approved courses, and lottery-style enrollment model as NCVA, making it the closest direct comparable.
• Ohio Virtual Academy: Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA) is a K12/Stride-powered full-time online public charter school serving Ohio K-12 students — essentially the same operating model and platform stack as NCVA, just in a different state. It is one of the most direct comparables in the Stride virtual school network.
• Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School: PA Cyber is one of the largest cyber charter schools in the U.S., serving Pennsylvania K-12 students via online instruction. It competes in the same full-time online charter category as NCVA with similar regulatory dependence on state charter law.
• Texas Connections Academy at Houston: Texas Connections Academy is a tuition-free full-time online public charter school authorized in Texas, also using the Stride/K12 platform. Like NCVA, it offers NCAA-approved courses, K-12 enrollment, and lottery-based admissions.
• North Carolina Public School's NC Virtual Public School: NCVPS is the state-run virtual education program for North Carolina public school students, offering supplemental and full-time online courses to in-state students. It directly competes with NCVA in the same geography and curriculum area.

Emerging players

• Outschool: Outschool is a marketplace of online classes and clubs for K-12 learners, including homeschoolers and virtual school families. It is an emerging adjacent option that can supplement — or in some cases substitute for — the full-time enrollment NCVA offers.

Others

• Edmentum (PLATO / EdOptions Academy): Edmentum provides online curriculum and full-time virtual school services (EdOptions Academy) to school districts and charter schools. It serves as an alternative infrastructure provider to Stride and could be viewed as a vendor peer as well as an indirect competitor to NCVA.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/north-carolina-virtual-academy

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about North Carolina Virtual Academy