Lees-McRae College Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt
- Private nonprofit college
- Banner Elk, NC
- 873 undergraduates
College Scorecard June 2026 release
The short answer
6 Lees-McRae College bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($69,776), and Zoology the least ($24,921). The median program pays $36,904.
All 6 bachelor's programs, ranked
Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in North Carolina" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across North Carolina. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.
Program names link to the program's own page, and North Carolina ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five North Carolina programs in the field do too.
Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.
One more bachelor's program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.
Quick picks
Highest first-year pay
- Nursing$69,776
- Criminal Justice$39,811
- Teacher Education$38,996
- Human Services$34,811
- Business Administration$33,292
Lowest median debt
- Criminal Justice$15,000
- Teacher Education$15,000
- Human Services$15,750
- Business Administration$18,500
- Nursing$23,125
Largest programs
- ZoologyAbout 48 graduates a year
- Human ServicesAbout 36 graduates a year
- Criminal JusticeAbout 25 graduates a year
- Teacher EducationAbout 21 graduates a year
- NursingAbout 14 graduates a year
Common questions
Nursing graduates earn a median of $69,776 in their first year, the most of 6 Lees-McRae College bachelor's programs that report pay.
Criminal Justice and Teacher Education graduates leave with a median of $15,000 in federal loans, the lowest among 6 Lees-McRae College bachelor's programs that report debt.
Tuition and fees are $33,250 a year for all students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $28,340 a year.
6 bachelor's programs at Lees-McRae College report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of North Carolina rankings when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels