Which North Carolina theatre program has the lowest debt?

UNC Chapel Hill reports the lowest median federal debt, $15,613, with first-year pay of $26,457.

How much do theatre graduates earn in North Carolina?

The median across 10 North Carolina theatre bachelor's programs is $21,113 in the first year after graduating and $31,814 five years after.

How many theatre bachelor's programs are in North Carolina?

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

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

10 programs report first-year pay
9 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median North Carolina theatre bachelor's program pays its graduates $21,113 in their first year, $298 more than the national median. UNC Chapel Hill reports the highest first-year pay ($26,457), and UNC Chapel Hill the lowest median debt ($15,613).

Median first-year pay$21,113National $20,815

Median pay after 5 years$31,814National $34,512

Median federal debt$25,914National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings122%National 115%

All 10 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	UNC Chapel HillChapel Hill · public	$26,457	Not reported	$15,613	59%
2	Elon UniversityElon · private nonprofit	$24,345	$43,297	Not reported	Not reported
3	Western Carolina UniversityCullowhee · public	$21,824	$35,165	$26,000	119%
4	East Carolina UniversityGreenville · public	$21,295	Not reported	$27,000	127%
5	University of North Carolina School of the ArtsWinston Salem · public	$21,229	$32,642	$24,592	116%
6	NC A&TGreensboro · public	$20,996	Not reported	$26,000	124%
7	UNC WilmingtonWilmington · public	$20,450	$28,208	$25,000	122%
8	Appalachian StateBoone · public	$20,256	$28,084	$24,755	122%
9	UNC GreensboroGreensboro · public	$18,154	$30,986	$25,914	143%
10	UNC CharlotteCharlotte · public	$18,052	Not reported	$26,000	144%

Elon University reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every North Carolina theatre 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

"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 theatre, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Producers and Directors

$63,700

Median pay in North Carolina. 3,500 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $34,120Top 10%: $133,170

Writers and Authors

$63,660

Median pay in North Carolina. 1,810 people work in this job in North Carolina. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $42,180Top 10%: $117,820

Common questions

UNC Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill reports the highest median first-year pay, $26,457. Its median federal debt is $15,613.

Theatre (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked257 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 theatre 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