---
title: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — cost, debt & earnings (College Scorecard)
location: Chapel Hill, NC
control: Public
source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release)
sourceUrl: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/
---

# University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC · Public · Bachelor-granting

> Federal College Scorecard institution **medians** — not a prediction of any one student's outcome, and not a figure for any single program. Earnings/debt cover federally-aided students.

## The bottom line

| Figure | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Typical earnings, 10 yrs after entry | $72,200 | recorded |
| Earnings range (25th–75th pct) | $48,337 – $112,339 | recorded |
| Typical federal debt | $12,989 | recorded |
| Debt of students who withdrew | $7,470 | recorded |
| Completion rate | 91% | recorded |
| Average annual net cost | $26,055 | recorded |
| % earning above a $28k HS-grad wage | 84% | recorded |
| Debt ÷ a year's earnings | 0.18× | derived |
| Earnings premium vs $28k HS benchmark | $44,200 | derived |

**91% of students finish** — the loans are owed whether or not you graduate, so read every figure below next to this number.

Typical **federal** loan debt is $12,989 (≈ 18% of a year's typical earnings here). Note: this counts federal loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS, or family savings — so true borrowing is usually higher; and because dropouts borrow less, low-completion schools can show a deceptively low debt figure.

## Earnings by major (the number that decides "worth it")

> **Different measure — read on its own terms.** These are median earnings **1 year after completing the program** (early career, graduates only) — NOT the 10-years-after-entry school-wide figure above. Do not compare a program figure to the school figure; compare majors to each other. The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates.

By program, early-career pay ranges from $19,401 to $168,979 across 76 program(s).

| Major | Credential | Pay (1 yr out) | Median debt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences. | Master's Degree | $168,979 | $118,480 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Master's Degree | $135,965 | $90,800 |
| Dentistry. | First Professional Degree | $116,248 | $214,834 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Doctoral Degree | $99,371 | $75,782 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | First Professional Degree | $97,401 | $73,625 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Master's Degree | $95,942 | $104,215 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Master's Degree | $89,271 | $41,000 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,938 | $14,239 |
| Computer Science. | Bachelor's Degree | $74,162 | $13,500 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | First Professional Degree | $72,574 | not reported |
| Education, General. | Doctoral Degree | $71,669 | $81,040 |
| Law. | First Professional Degree | $71,557 | $91,570 |
| Public Health. | Post-baccalaureate Certificate | $69,827 | not reported |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Master's Degree | $68,205 | $65,082 |
| Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration. | First Professional Degree | $67,961 | $146,598 |
| Ecology, Evolution, Systematics, and Population Biology. | Doctoral Degree | $65,910 | $43,008 |
| Applied Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $64,899 | $14,135 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Doctoral Degree | $63,661 | not reported |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | First Professional Degree | $62,681 | $79,781 |
| Chemistry. | Doctoral Degree | $62,634 | not reported |
| Accounting and Related Services. | Master's Degree | $61,091 | $58,824 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | Bachelor's Degree | $60,514 | $19,802 |
| Educational Administration and Supervision. | Master's Degree | $59,509 | $37,562 |
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $58,068 | not reported |
| Information Science/Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $57,392 | $13,197 |
| Economics. | Bachelor's Degree | $57,311 | $14,135 |
| Public Administration. | Master's Degree | $57,005 | $61,017 |
| Public Health. | Master's Degree | $56,836 | $56,414 |
| Biomedical/Medical Engineering. | Bachelor's Degree | $56,387 | $15,000 |
| Medicine. | First Professional Degree | $56,165 | $144,732 |
| Communication Disorders Sciences and Services. | Master's Degree | $55,644 | $50,279 |
| City/Urban, Community, and Regional Planning. | Master's Degree | $54,757 | $34,940 |
| Dental Support Services and Allied Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $53,510 | $11,000 |
| Clinical/Medical Laboratory Science/Research and Allied Professions. | Bachelor's Degree | $52,169 | $17,500 |
| Nutrition Sciences. | Master's Degree | $51,673 | $75,336 |
| Mathematics. | Bachelor's Degree | $47,767 | $15,127 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Master's Degree | $46,388 | not reported |
| Library Science and Administration. | Master's Degree | $46,077 | $42,364 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | Master's Degree | $46,042 | $41,000 |
| Student Counseling and Personnel Services. | Master's Degree | $45,402 | $31,460 |
| Education, General. | Master's Degree | $45,090 | not reported |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Master's Degree | $44,115 | not reported |
| Social Work. | Master's Degree | $43,984 | $42,252 |
| Physics. | Bachelor's Degree | $43,015 | $17,150 |
| Health and Medical Administrative Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $40,016 | not reported |
| Public Policy Analysis. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,751 | $14,000 |
| Human Resources Management and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $39,592 | $12,750 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Master's Degree | $38,970 | $23,462 |
| Communication and Media Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,726 | $14,625 |
| Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution. | Bachelor's Degree | $37,050 | $14,000 |
| Political Science and Government. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,613 | $14,569 |
| Philosophy. | Bachelor's Degree | $36,042 | $14,618 |
| Political Science and Government. | Master's Degree | $35,204 | not reported |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,646 | $12,000 |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,170 | $13,000 |
| Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics. | Bachelor's Degree | $33,146 | $13,379 |
| Chemistry. | Bachelor's Degree | $32,313 | $14,000 |
| Geography and Cartography. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,398 | not reported |
| Sociology. | Bachelor's Degree | $30,367 | $14,050 |
| Religion/Religious Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,606 | $12,550 |
| Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, and Group Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,499 | $11,364 |
| Natural Resources Conservation and Research. | Bachelor's Degree | $29,460 | $12,000 |
| Psychology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,990 | $13,999 |
| Public Health. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,977 | not reported |
| History. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,703 | $14,250 |
| Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,241 | not reported |
| Area Studies. | Bachelor's Degree | $28,175 | $13,261 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,479 | $16,782 |
| Anthropology. | Bachelor's Degree | $27,222 | $12,500 |
| Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness. | Bachelor's Degree | $26,942 | $16,500 |
| English Language and Literature, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,909 | $14,794 |
| Music. | Bachelor's Degree | $25,813 | $18,007 |
| Biology, General. | Bachelor's Degree | $24,522 | $15,000 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,368 | $11,599 |
| Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft. | Bachelor's Degree | $22,322 | $15,827 |
| Fine and Studio Arts. | Master's Degree | $19,401 | not reported |

## What this is — and is NOT

Institution-wide medians from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. **Not** a prediction of what you would earn or owe, **not** a figure for any single program (a CS and a fine-arts graduate of the same school diverge enormously), **not** proof the school caused the outcome (selection, not causation), and **not** a "best college" ranking. Explore University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill by field of study at the official Scorecard: https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?199120

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Structured data (JSON-LD), each figure labeled by epistemic status: `/education/university-of-north-carolina-at-chapel-hill-nc.jsonld` · all schools: `/education`