Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $72,200 ten years after enrolling, more than at 85% of colleges; 91% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 1.4 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$14K
According to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's most recent Common Data Set, 26% of its Class of 2025 graduates (4,424 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $22,675 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
91 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 6 more are enrolled at another college. (5,145 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
85 of 100 finish within 4 years, 91 within 6, and 91 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 85% | 91% | 91% |
| Started in college here | 85% | 91% | 92% |
| Transferred in | 86% | 87% | 89% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Of 100 Pell Grant recipients who entered in fall 2019, 78 finished within 4 years and 88 within 6. First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2019.
- Pell Grant recipients872 students
88% · 78% within 4 years · 5 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant427 students
87% · 80% within 4 years · 5 points below students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan2,864 students
93% · 85% within 4 years · comparison group
Within 4 years
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White2,427 students
92% · the same as all students
- Asian511 students
95% · 4 points above all students
- Hispanic/Latino364 students
92% · 1 point above all students
- Black368 students
88% · 3 points below all students
- Two or more races215 students
88% · 3 points below all students
- International219 students
88% · 3 points below all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native30 students
73% · 18 points below all students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander5 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2019;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Common Data Set 2025–26, Class of 2025;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)