Which North Carolina finance program has the lowest debt?

Wake Forest University reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,500, with first-year pay of $85,944.

How much do finance graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 9 North Carolina finance bachelor's programs is $51,628 in the first year after graduating and $78,144 five years after.

How many finance 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.

Finance (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 Finance and Financial Management Services

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina finance bachelor's program pays its graduates $51,628 in their first year, $1,745 less than the national median. Wake Forest University reports the highest first-year pay ($85,944), and Wake Forest University the lowest median debt ($19,500).

Median first-year pay$51,628National $53,373

Median pay after 5 years$78,144National $77,457

Median federal debt$22,500National $23,250

Debt-to-earnings43%National 44%

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	Wake Forest UniversityWinston-Salem · private nonprofit	$85,944	$140,033	$19,500	23%
2	Elon UniversityElon · private nonprofit	$66,614	$106,904	$19,500	29%
3	Campbell UniversityBuies Creek · private nonprofit	$60,445	$79,895	$25,000	41%
4	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$52,004	$88,101	$21,267	41%
5	UNC CharlotteCharlotte · public	$51,628	$78,144	$22,400	43%
6	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$51,501	$77,460	$23,142	45%
7	Wingate UniversityWingate · private nonprofit	$46,591	Not reported	$22,500	48%
8	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee · public	$40,575	$64,679	$23,625	58%
9	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$40,445	$67,570	$24,000	59%

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina finance 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 finance, 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

Financial Managers

$166,780

Median pay in North Carolina. 22,460 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 10% from 2025 to 2035, with about 65,600 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $100,950Top 10%: $322,090

Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales Agents

$74,040

Median pay in North Carolina. 21,890 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 35,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $46,660Top 10%: $178,630

Financial and Investment Analysts

$102,390

Median pay in North Carolina. 12,710 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $61,670Top 10%: $167,250

Common questions

Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem reports the highest median first-year pay, $85,944. Its median federal debt is $19,500.

Finance (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked407 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 finance 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