Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $78,158 ten years after enrolling, more than at 90% of colleges; 90% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 3.4 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
$21.5K
According to Wake Forest University's most recent Common Data Set, 21% of its Class of 2025 graduates (1,310 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $36,431 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.
90 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 7 more are enrolled at another college. (1,349 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
85 of 100 finish within 4 years, 89 within 6, and 90 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 85% | 89% | 90% |
| Started in college here | 85% | 89% | 90% |
| Transferred in | 79% | 84% | 84% |
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 84 within 6. First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2019.
- Pell Grant recipients115 students
84% · 78% within 4 years · 7 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant105 students
90% · 85% within 4 years · the same as students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan1,139 students
91% · 87% 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.
- White952 students
91% · 1 point above all students
- Asian57 students
81% · 10 points below all students
- Hispanic/Latino120 students
88% · 3 points below all students
- Black75 students
79% · 12 points below all students
- Two or more races63 students
89% · 1 point below all students
- International152 students
88% · 3 points below all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native1 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus Wake Forest University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;Wake Forest University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2024;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;Wake Forest University Common Data Set 2025–26, Entered fall 2019;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;Wake Forest University 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)