Carolina University
Private College in Winston-Salem, NC. Six-year graduation rate 21%. Median 10-year earnings $32,864.
Median earnings ten years after entry come to $32,864, below what most undergraduate institutions return — the central fact to weigh against cost here. The six-year graduation rate is 21% — low enough that finishing cannot be treated as the default outcome. Graduates carry a median of $20,287 in debt — in line with the national norm.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.62 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 21% — below national average
Admissions
Carolina University admits 40% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly three in five applicants are turned away. With 736 applicants, admissions statistics here move a lot on small changes. About 27% of admitted students enroll, a yield in the normal range.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | — | — |
| SAT Math | — | |
| ACT Composite | — | — |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Carolina University →Academics
Completion is the problem here: 21% graduate within six years. Retention is weak: only 56% of full-time first-years return, so roughly two in five leave after one year. The distance between those two figures is the part worth noticing — students return for a second year at a much higher rate than they graduate, so attrition here is spread across the middle years rather than concentrated in the first. Transfer-out runs to 18% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. A 17:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 424 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Net price lands at $20,412 a year on average, neither cheap nor punishing. Net price varies modestly by income — $17,738 at $0–30k against $24,152 at $110k+ — so the average is a fair guide for most families. 98% of students get grant aid averaging $12,235, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Federal borrowing reaches 45% of students.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 110 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $17,738 |
| $30–48k | $17,560 |
| $48–75k | $22,993 |
| $75–110k | $23,597 |
| $110k+ | $24,152 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 189 of these 424 students, totalling $1,180,714 — an average of $6,247 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Forsyth County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026