University of
North Carolina School of the Arts
Public College in Winston Salem, NC. Six-year graduation rate 78%. Median 10-year earnings $38,357.
Students who entered University of North Carolina School of the Arts reach a median of $38,357 a decade later, a figure that trails the typical four-year outcome. 78% graduate within six years, so most students who start here finish here. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $23,870, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Graduation rate 78% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.62 — elevated (above 0.60)
Admissions
University of North Carolina School of the Arts admits 30% of applicants and is genuinely selective — roughly two in three applicants are turned away. The applicant pool is small at 1,438, which makes year-over-year comparisons unreliable. A 56% yield rate puts this school in the upper range for admits who follow through. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 11% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
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 | 600–720 | 27 (11%) |
| SAT Math | 540–650 | |
| ACT Composite | 22–29 | 28 (12%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at University of North Carolina School of the Arts →Academics
78% of students finish within six years, putting completion well above the national norm. First-year retention of 93% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. Retention and graduation track closely, so most of the attrition shows up in the first year rather than after it. Transfer-out runs to 16% — common enough at this school that the completion rate is measuring a smaller group than the entering class. At 6:1, 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 902 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $13,140 annually, well below typical undergraduate net price. Net price swings hard on family income here, from $3,165 at the $0–30k band to $25,172 at $110k+. About 67% get grants averaging $12,314, so plan on the possibility of paying closer to full price. Federal borrowing reaches 47% 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 · 221 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 | $3,165 |
| $30–48k | $7,828 |
| $48–75k | $11,491 |
| $75–110k | $20,173 |
| $110k+ | $25,172 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 421 of these 902 students, totalling $2,670,187 — an average of $6,342 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
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)