Johnson &
Wales University-Charlotte
Private College in Charlotte, NC. Six-year graduation rate 51%. Median 10-year earnings $43,418.
The median ten-year earnings figure of $43,418 sits near the national middle rather than at either extreme. Six-year completion sits at 51%, near the national average for undergraduate institutions. Median debt at graduation is $26,000, roughly typical for an undergraduate degree.
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
Admissions
An acceptance rate of 80% puts Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte on the accessible end — a realistic target for a broad range of applicants. 4,105 applications came in, enough to make the rates below reasonably stable year to year. Only 14% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 10% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
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 | 450–570 | 46 (10%) |
| SAT Math | 430–560 | |
| ACT Composite | 16–23 | 26 (6%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte →Academics
Six-year completion sits at 51%, meaning about one in two students who enroll leave without finishing. First-year retention is 72% — the single largest point of attrition on this campus. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. 22% transfer out. IPEDS does not follow them, so whether they finished elsewhere is not recorded either way. At 14:1, students get materially more instructor contact than at a typical public university.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 1,126 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay $28,084 a year on average after aid, a premium price that the earnings data has to justify. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $23,414 at the $0–30k band to $33,680 at $110k+. 100% of students get grant aid averaging $27,256, so the published price is a poor guide to what most pay. Most students borrow — 81% take federal loans to cover the gap.
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 · 430 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 | $23,414 |
| $30–48k | $24,568 |
| $48–75k | $25,109 |
| $75–110k | $30,117 |
| $110k+ | $33,680 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 915 of these 1,126 students, totalling $6,226,460 — an average of $6,805 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Mecklenburg County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)