North Carolina
State University at Raleigh
Public Research University in Raleigh, NC. Six-year graduation rate 85%. Median 10-year earnings $68,758.
Ten-year median earnings of $68,758 are the headline number here, and they are strong ones. The six-year graduation rate of 85% is well above average and the clearest sign this school holds onto its students. Graduates carry a median of $20,121 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.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 85% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
Admissions
Selectivity is real here: only 42% of applicants are offered a place. 44,047 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield sits at 32% — the remainder of admitted students enroll elsewhere or not at all. The score bands below rest on the 18% of enrolled first-years who submitted an SAT score — a self-selected group, and not a cutoff.
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 | 650–720 | 1,072 (18%) |
| SAT Math | 650–750 | |
| ACT Composite | 28–32 | 1,688 (29%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at North Carolina State University at Raleigh →Academics
85% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. 94% of full-time first-years return for a second year — a healthy figure. The 15:1 student-faculty ratio is small enough that seminar-sized classes are the norm. Judge these figures against other institutions of the same type — sector explains more of the variation in completion than any single campus factor. The undergraduate body runs to 27,323, large enough that student experience varies widely by program.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 26,389 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $15,522 annually once grants are applied. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $6,382 at the $0–30k band to $24,652 at $110k+. 53% of students receive grant aid, averaging $11,600 — common but not automatic. About 35% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
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 · 5,636 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 | $6,382 |
| $30–48k | $8,758 |
| $48–75k | $13,334 |
| $75–110k | $20,087 |
| $110k+ | $24,652 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 9,117 of these 26,389 students, totalling $54,260,336 — an average of $5,952 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Wake 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)