Which North Carolina business administration program has the lowest debt?

Catawba Valley Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $8,573, with first-year pay of $32,230.

How much do business administration graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 15 North Carolina business administration certificate programs is $32,230 in the first year after graduating and $34,442 five years after.

How many business administration certificate programs are in North Carolina?

15 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

Business Administration (Certificate) Programs in North Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

15 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Certificate in Business Administration, Management and Operations

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina business administration certificate program pays its graduates $32,230 in their first year, $6,151 less than the national median. South Piedmont Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($40,686), and Catawba Valley Community College the lowest median debt ($8,573).

Median first-year pay$32,230National $38,381

Median pay after 5 years$34,442National $45,851

Median federal debt$16,804National $15,084

Debt-to-earnings47%National 39%

All 15 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	South Piedmont Community CollegePolkton · public	$40,686	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2	Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown · public	$40,215	$34,442	$21,719	54%
3	Fayetteville Technical Community CollegeFayetteville · public	$35,845	$35,290	$14,699	41%
4	Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleigh · public	$35,574	$41,466	$19,000	53%
5	Pitt Community CollegeWinterville · public	$35,485	Not reported	$21,625	61%
6	Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville · public	$33,263	Not reported	$27,218	82%
7	Lenoir Community CollegeKinston · public	$33,197	$29,700	Not reported	Not reported
8	Catawba Valley Community CollegeHickory · public	$32,230	Not reported	$8,573	27%
9	Southwestern Community College (North Carolina)Sylva · public	$30,899	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
10	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community CollegeAsheville · public	$29,126	Not reported	$10,760	37%
11	Johnston Community CollegeSmithfield · public	$27,001	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
12	Mitchell Community CollegeStatesville · public	$26,976	$40,052	Not reported	Not reported
13	Rowan-Cabarrus Community CollegeSalisbury · public	$24,848	$33,453	$10,253	41%
14	Isothermal Community CollegeSpindale · public	$23,595	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
15	Wayne Community CollegeGoldsboro · public	$17,672	$32,044	Not reported	Not reported

7 programs report pay but not debt, so they are ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina business administration 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 the 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

South Piedmont Community College$40,686
Guilford Technical Community College$40,215
Fayetteville Technical Community College$35,845
Wake Technical Community College$35,574
Pitt Community College$35,485

Lowest median debt

Catawba Valley Community College$8,573
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College$10,253
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College$10,760
Fayetteville Technical Community College$14,699
Wake Technical Community College$19,000

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$101,950

Median pay in North Carolina. 63,740 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $48,340Top 10%: $238,230

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$62,340

Median pay in North Carolina. 35,830 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,880Top 10%: $97,900

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$47,760

Median pay in North Carolina. 39,890 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $32,030Top 10%: $77,110

Project Management Specialists

$100,820

Median pay in North Carolina. 36,200 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,570Top 10%: $164,050

Common questions

South Piedmont Community College in Polkton reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,686.

Business Administration (Certificate) programs in the US, ranked74 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Bachelor's) programs in North Carolina, ranked37 programs by pay and debt Business Administration (Associate's) programs in North Carolina, ranked19 programs by pay and 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.
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.
Medians are across the business administration certificate programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024