2021 Best Colleges in North Carolina by Salary Score™

We ranked the top 25 schools in North Carolina based on Salary Score to show how alumni salaries at these schools compare to alumni salaries across the country. We know that future salary isn’t the primary consideration for every student, but we do believe this information is useful alongside other metrics, like cost of tuition, financial aid packages, and the overall quality of a program. To calculate our Salary Score, we compared median alumni earnings a year after graduating from a major at one college to alumni earnings for the same major at other universities. The results were compiled into one bachelor's Salary Score for each college, which indicates the salary potential for graduates based on real alumni outcomes. The top six North Carolina universities below have a higher Salary Score than the median for all U.S. colleges and universities. The top three schools in North Carolina — Elon University, Duke University, and Wake Forest University — also earned a spot on our 2021 list of the best colleges in the country.

To be considered for our state rankings, schools must offer and provide data for at least 8 bachelor's programs. You can click on a school's name to view individual program scores. Read our methodology to learn more about how schools were ranked.