Which North Carolina computer and information science program has the lowest debt?

Durham Technical Community College reports the lowest median federal debt, $9,667, with first-year pay of $45,847.

How much do computer and information science graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 7 North Carolina computer and information science associate's programs is $40,854 in the first year after graduating and $52,873 five years after.

How many computer and information science associate's programs are in North Carolina?

7 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Computer and Information Science (Associate's) Programs in North Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

7 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Associate's in Computer and Information Sciences, General

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina computer and information science associate's program pays its graduates $40,854 in their first year, $3,126 more than the national median. Wake Technical Community College reports the highest first-year pay ($48,280), and Durham Technical Community College the lowest median debt ($9,667).

Median first-year pay$40,854National $37,728

Median pay after 5 years$52,873National $50,653

Median federal debt$15,337National $13,576

Debt-to-earnings40%National 36%

All 7 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	Wake Technical Community CollegeRaleigh · public	$48,280	$65,963	$17,698	37%
2	Durham Technical Community CollegeDurham · public	$45,847	Not reported	$9,667	21%
3	Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community CollegeAsheville · public	$41,027	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
4	Central Piedmont Community CollegeCharlotte · public	$40,854	$58,334	$10,456	26%
5	Forsyth Technical Community CollegeWinston-Salem · public	$38,837	Not reported	$16,616	43%
6	Guilford Technical Community CollegeJamestown · public	$37,728	$42,648	$22,713	60%
7	Davidson-Davie Community CollegeThomasville · public	$35,638	Not reported	$15,337	43%

Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina computer and information science 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 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Wake Technical Community College$48,280
Durham Technical Community College$45,847
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College$41,027
Central Piedmont Community College$40,854
Forsyth Technical Community College$38,837

Lowest median debt

Durham Technical Community College$9,667
Central Piedmont Community College$10,456
Davidson-Davie Community College$15,337
Forsyth Technical Community College$16,616
Wake Technical Community College$17,698

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 computer and information science, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Software Developers

$134,710

Median pay in North Carolina. 58,470 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 95,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $83,840Top 10%: $179,310

Computer and Information Systems Managers

$172,860

Median pay in North Carolina. 25,650 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 16% from 2025 to 2035, with about 53,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $108,280Top 10%: $287,840

Computer Systems Analysts

$106,850

Median pay in North Carolina. 20,910 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 32,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $73,190Top 10%: $166,660

Network and Computer Systems Administrators

$95,230

Median pay in North Carolina. 13,850 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 13,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $50,680Top 10%: $149,650

Common questions

Wake Technical Community College in Raleigh reports the highest median first-year pay, $48,280. Its median federal debt is $17,698.

Computer and Information Science (Associate's) programs in the US, ranked69 programs by pay and debt Computer and Information Science (Bachelor's) programs in North Carolina, ranked9 programs by pay and debt Computer and Information Science (Certificate) programs in North Carolina, ranked6 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 computer and information science associate's 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