Which North Carolina liberal arts and general studies program has the lowest debt?

UNC Chapel Hill reports the lowest median federal debt, $13,000, with first-year pay of $37,709.

How much do liberal arts and general studies graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 12 North Carolina liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs is $32,546 in the first year after graduating and $42,025 five years after.

How many liberal arts and general studies bachelor's programs are in North Carolina?

12 North Carolina programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 12 of them also report federal debt.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) Programs in North Carolina, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
12 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina liberal arts and general studies bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,546 in their first year, $3,611 less than the national median. Belmont Abbey College reports the highest first-year pay ($46,654), and UNC Chapel Hill the lowest median debt ($13,000).

Median first-year pay$32,546National $36,157

Median pay after 5 years$42,025National $48,575

Median federal debt$28,524National $27,000

Debt-to-earnings84%National 73%

All 12 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	Belmont Abbey CollegeBelmont · private nonprofit	$46,654	$44,236	$33,291	71%
2	NC StateRaleigh · public	$41,661	Not reported	$25,993	62%
3	UNC Chapel HillChapel Hill · public	$37,709	Not reported	$13,000	34%
4	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$36,809	$44,670	$27,000	73%
5	Winston-Salem StateWinston-Salem · public	$35,414	$35,537	$28,524	81%
6	Johnson C Smith UniversityCharlotte · private nonprofit	$33,847	Not reported	$36,285	107%
7	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$31,245	$46,623	$25,898	83%
8	NC A&TGreensboro · public	$30,397	$42,025	$31,000	102%
9	North Carolina Central UniversityDurham · public	$28,522	Not reported	$29,000	102%
10	UNC AshevilleAsheville · public	$22,144	$40,419	$18,743	85%
11	Livingstone CollegeSalisbury · private nonprofit	$21,640	$31,627	$35,225	163%
12	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$21,143	Not reported	$24,977	118%

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina liberal arts and general studies 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 12 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.

Common questions

Belmont Abbey College in Belmont reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,654. Its median federal debt is $33,291.

Liberal Arts and General Studies (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked395 programs by pay and debt Liberal Arts and General Studies (Associate's) programs in North Carolina, ranked49 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 liberal arts and general studies 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