Which North Carolina design and applied arts program has the lowest debt?

NC State reports the lowest median federal debt, $20,500, with first-year pay of $44,930.

How much do design and applied arts graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 9 North Carolina design and applied arts bachelor's programs is $34,722 in the first year after graduating and $50,363 five years after.

How many design and applied arts bachelor's programs are in North Carolina?

9 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 9 of them also report federal debt.

Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's) Programs in North Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

9 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Design and Applied Arts

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina design and applied arts bachelor's program pays its graduates $34,722 in their first year, $1,186 more than the national median. NC State reports the highest first-year pay ($44,930), and NC State the lowest median debt ($20,500).

Median first-year pay$34,722National $33,536

Median pay after 5 years$50,363National $50,431

Median federal debt$25,000National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings69%National 77%

All 9 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	NC StateRaleigh · public	$44,930	$61,375	$20,500	46%
2	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$39,992	$53,859	$25,000	63%
3	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$38,858	$48,573	$26,000	67%
4	Meredith CollegeRaleigh · private nonprofit	$36,357	$46,268	$25,000	69%
5	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$34,722	$54,970	$21,500	62%
6	William Peace UniversityRaleigh · private nonprofit	$33,536	Not reported	$24,978	74%
7	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee · public	$32,842	$51,717	$29,911	91%
8	Queens University of CharlotteCharlotte · private nonprofit	$31,611	$49,008	$27,000	85%
9	NC A&TGreensboro · public	$30,470	$44,151	$29,958	98%

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina design and applied arts 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 9 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 design and applied arts, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Graphic Designers

$58,450

Median pay in North Carolina. 5,660 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $37,680Top 10%: $95,380

Web and Digital Interface Designers

$97,990

Median pay in North Carolina. 3,400 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $44,530Top 10%: $163,850

Interior Designers

$61,400

Median pay in North Carolina. 2,610 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 3% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,870Top 10%: $100,450

Art Directors

$90,000

Median pay in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $56,460Top 10%: $142,740

Common questions

NC State in Raleigh reports the highest median first-year pay, $44,930. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

Design and Applied Arts (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked297 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 design and applied arts 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