Wingate University Public Relations and Advertising (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication
- Private nonprofit university
- Wingate, NC
- About 21 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Wingate University public relations and advertising graduates earn about what public relations and advertising graduates earn nationally, $40,438 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,400 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,693. One other North Carolina program reports higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The North Carolina and national columns are the medians across all public relations and advertising bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Wingate University graduates earn more than the national figure and about $2,620 more than the North Carolina median.
Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina public relations and advertising program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the North Carolina medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 50% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $269 a month, or 8.0% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
79% of graduates (26 of 33) were working in North Carolina one year after graduating. Prices in the Charlotte area are about 3% below the national average, so a $40,438 salary here buys what about $41,540 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to public relations and advertising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Training and Development Specialists
$65,250Median pay in North Carolina. 20,220 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 11% from 2025 to 2035, with about 46,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Public Relations Specialists
$67,230Median pay in North Carolina. 9,910 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Human Resources Managers
$142,990Median pay in North Carolina. 6,480 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Fundraisers
$66,100Median pay in North Carolina. 3,700 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Wingate University
Public Relations and Advertising ranks 7th of 14 bachelor's programs at Wingate University by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($68,877), Pre-Health Studies ($53,681), and Accounting ($51,437).
Other public relations and advertising bachelor's programs near Wingate
Common questions
The median graduate earns $40,438 one year after graduating and $60,460 five years after. The median across public relations and advertising bachelor's programs in North Carolina is $38,190.
The median federal loan balance is $25,400, which ranks 4th lowest of 5 public relations and advertising bachelor's programs in North Carolina. That works out to about $269 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 63% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 62%. Compare the cost with other North Carolina programs before deciding.
Most do. 79% (26 of 33) were working in North Carolina one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- 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 comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the public relations and advertising program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024