Which North Carolina computer science program has the lowest debt?

Duke University reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,500, with first-year pay of $133,356.

How much do computer science graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 15 North Carolina computer science bachelor's programs is $67,704 in the first year after graduating and $94,030 five years after.

How many computer science bachelor's programs are in North Carolina?

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

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

15 programs report first-year pay
15 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Computer Science

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina computer science bachelor's program pays its graduates $67,704 in their first year, $2,696 less than the national median. Duke University reports the highest first-year pay ($133,356), and Duke University the lowest median debt ($13,500).

Median first-year pay$67,704National $70,400

Median pay after 5 years$94,030National $105,613

Median federal debt$24,819National $23,308

Debt-to-earnings37%National 34%

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	Duke UniversityDurham · private nonprofit	$133,356	$201,846	$13,500	10%
2	UNC Chapel HillChapel Hill · public	$90,293	$124,977	$14,131	16%
3	NC StateRaleigh · public	$85,809	$111,385	$21,073	25%
4	NC A&TGreensboro · public	$81,174	$81,421	$26,302	32%
5	Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem · private nonprofit	$75,625	$140,759	$20,674	27%
6	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$68,675	$102,688	$22,500	33%
7	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$67,781	$104,755	$25,000	37%
8	UNC CharlotteCharlotte · public	$67,704	$93,475	$23,250	34%
9	UNC WilmingtonWilmington · public	$66,977	$98,418	$24,819	37%
10	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$65,958	$89,249	$27,000	41%
11	Fayetteville StateFayetteville · public	$50,940	$60,188	$27,000	53%
12	Winston-Salem StateWinston-Salem · public	$50,927	$58,212	$30,721	60%
13	UNC AshevilleAsheville · public	$48,076	$94,030	$23,970	50%
14	UNC PembrokePembroke · public	$38,417	$91,608	$27,000	70%
15	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee · public	$28,892	$93,802	$27,000	93%

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina computer 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 15 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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 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

Data Scientists

$119,090

Median pay in North Carolina. 11,430 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $65,970Top 10%: $172,830

Information Security Analysts

$131,540

Median pay in North Carolina. 8,670 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 21% from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $77,150Top 10%: $173,670

Common questions

Duke University in Durham reports the highest median first-year pay, $133,356. Its median federal debt is $13,500.

Computer Science (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked331 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 science bachelor'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