10-yr median earnings
$38,654
Federal aid recipients only
Public · Wilmington, North Carolina
Cape Fear Community College
Cape Fear Community College is a public institution in Wilmington, North Carolina. as a public institution, published Scorecard outcomes are the federal Title-IV cohort view of former students — not every graduate and not a guarantee for any one enrollee.
- $9,610
- Avg net price / yr
- $38,654
- 10-yr median earnings
- 33.9%
- 150%-time completion
The verdict
Cape Fear Community College posts modest former-student earnings.
According to the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard.
- 42nd pct.
- former-student earnings, US
- 33.9%
- 150%-time completion
- +20%
- earnings, 6→10 yrs
City: Midsize
Carnegie: Associate's
Institution data retrieved July 2026; field-of-study data retrieved March 2026.
How to read this Cape Fear Community College profile
Figures above come from IPEDS institution records published through the College Scorecard (retrieved July 2026 for institution fields; March 2026 for field-of-study). Peer groups and cost cohorts follow IPEDS ownership sector, Carnegie class ("Associate's Colleges: High Transfer-High Traditional"), and locale, not an editorial shortlist.
Average net price subtracts grant and scholarship aid from cost of attendance for full-time, first-time undergraduate Title IV recipients. It is a defined cohort average, not a personalized price; income-band fields add context but do not replace the school's current net-price calculator.
Earnings use Treasury-linked records for federally aided former students who were working and not enrolled in the measurement year (completers and noncompleters). IPEDS completion and retention use separate first-time, full-time cohorts, so those denominators are not the earnings cohort. Read cost, completion, and earnings as distinct historical measures, not a causal verdict or individual forecast.
College Value Score
D
College Value Score
49/100
Cape Fear Community College
A 6-metric composite of earnings, cost, and completion outcomes benchmarked against every reporting US college, not a ranking of teaching quality, campus life, or fit for any individual student. See the full methodology.
Earnings D
$38,654
10-year median former-student earnings
Net Price B+
$9,610
Average annual cost after grants and aid
Completion Rate F
33.9%
Completion within 150% of normal time
Debt B+
$9,500
Median federal debt at graduation
Loan Repayment F
44.3%
Borrowers repaying loans within 3 years
Retention N/A
N/A
First-year students returning for year two
Each axis is the percentile score shown in the breakdown at left; the shape shows this school's overall profile at a glance.
Avg net price
$9,610
After grants and scholarships
150%-time completion
33.9%
Full-time, first-time cohort
150%-time completion vs portal median (57.1%) 33.9%
Less-than-four-year-institution cohort
College ROI Quadrant - Cape Fear Community College vs peers
Each dot is a college plotted by 10-year median earnings (x-axis) vs average net price (y-axis), colored by completion within 150% of normal time. Bottom-right = high earnings/lower price; top-left = lower earnings/higher price.
How Cape Fear Community College ranks nationally
Where this school's former-student earnings fall within the full national distribution of every US college that reports to the College Scorecard, not just its peer set.
Cape Fear Community College: former-student earnings vs. every US college
10-year median earnings, College Scorecard
$38,654 42nd percentile higher than 42% of 5,103 US colleges
Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more US colleges. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard · Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals
| Metric | Cape Fear Community College | National rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $38,654 | #2936 of 5103 | 42nd |
| Average net price | $9,610 | #1065 of 5020 | 79th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 33.9% | #4037 of 4858 | 17th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 9,764 | #357 of 5462 | 93rd |
National ranks count every operating US college reporting each metric to the College Scorecard, separate from the earnings histogram above.
Quick Facts
9,764
Undergraduate enrollment
-
Acceptance rate
-
SAT average
33.9%
150%-time completion
$38,654
10-yr median earnings
-
First-year retention
How Cape Fear Community College ranks in North Carolina
State rank among 147 reporting North Carolina colleges with College Scorecard data, a separate lens from the national distribution above.
| Metric | Cape Fear Community College | State rank | Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-yr median earnings | $38,654 | #56 of 147 | 62nd |
| Average net price | $9,610 | #53 of 146 | 64th (lower is better) |
| 150%-time completion | 33.9% | #114 of 142 | 20th |
| Undergraduate enrollment | 9,764 | #12 of 153 | 92nd |
Highest former-student earnings in North Carolina
| # | School | 10-yr earnings | Net price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke University | $97,800 | $29,612 |
| 2 | Chamberlain University-North Carolina | $92,405 | $38,436 |
| 3 | Davidson College | $81,400 | $17,379 |
| 4 | Wake Forest University | $78,158 | $28,719 |
| 5 | Elon University | $74,545 | $41,555 |
| 6 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | $72,200 | $11,655 |
| 7 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh | $68,758 | $17,303 |
| 8 | Carolinas College of Health Sciences | $64,624 | - |
| 9 | Galen Health Institutes-Asheville | $61,480 | $28,602 |
| 10 | High Point University | $61,389 | $38,707 |
| 11 | Cabarrus College of Health Sciences | $58,708 | $17,618 |
| 12 | Queens University of Charlotte | $57,673 | $30,857 |
| 56 | Cape Fear Community CollegeThis school | $38,654 | $9,610 |
Costs & Financial Aid
Net price by family income at Cape Fear Community College
Average annual net price after grants; Title IV recipient cohort by income bracket
- $0 – $30k
$0 – $30k
$7,221 net price / yr
- $30k – $48k
$30k – $48k
$11,035 net price / yr
- $48k – $75k
$48k – $75k
$10,335 net price / yr
- $110k+
$110k+
$14,507 net price / yr
What this shows Need-based aid pulls net price down at lower brackets at Cape Fear Community College - compare the bar for your income band, not the overall average alone.
Tuition & Net Price
| In-State Tuition | $2,748 |
| Out-of-State Tuition | $8,892 |
| Average Net Price | $9,610 |
17.7%
Pell Grant Rate
4.3%
Federal Loan Rate
$9,500
Median Debt
$101/mo
Monthly Payment
Cape Fear Community College costs less today than it did in 2013
Average net price fell from $9,972 to $5,416 (-45.7%) between 2013 and 2023, before any inflation adjustment, which makes the real-terms fall larger still. Most colleges moved the other way: the median change across the 4,315 schools measured over the same span was +14.6%.
11 reported years. Nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation.
2013 · $9,9722023 · $5,416
Over the same years, enrollment went +7.9% (8,798 → 9,497 students).
Source: U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, per-year fields (2013–2023). Net price is the average cost after grant and scholarship aid for federally-aided undergraduates.
Student Demographics
Race & ethnicity
Student body at a glance
56.5%
Female
38.3%
First Generation
Outcomes
$32,234
Median Earnings (6yr)
44.7%
Earning Over $25K
44.3%
Loan Repayment, Completers (3yr)
Outcomes & debt snapshot
| Measure | Cohort / horizon | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Completion within 150% of normal time | First-time, full-time | 33.9% |
| Median earnings | 6 years after entry | $32,234 |
| Median earnings | 10 years after entry | $38,654 |
| Share earning over $25,000 | Working, not enrolled | 44.7% |
| Loan repayment rate | Completers, 3 years after leaving | 44.3% |
| Median federal student debt | At completion | $9,500 |
| Estimated monthly payment | Standard 10-year plan | $101/mo |
Programs & Earnings
Field-of-study summary by credential
| Credential | Programs | Award count | Avg earnings | Top earnings | Avg debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associate's | 10 | 1,115 | $53,690 | $75,252 | $8,000 |
| Certificate | 4 | 214 | $47,240 | $57,650 | - |
Top programs at Cape Fear Community College by completer earnings
Median earnings of program completers, College Scorecard field-of-study file
- Registered Nursing, Nursin…
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing
$75,252 median earnings
- Allied Health Diagnostic, …
Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions
$60,921 median earnings
- Computer and Information S…
Computer and Information Sciences, General
$57,650 median earnings
- Criminal Justice and Corre…
Criminal Justice and Corrections
$55,088 median earnings
- Computer and Information S…
Computer and Information Sciences, General
$50,244 median earnings
- Liberal Arts and Sciences,…
Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities
$42,093 median earnings
- Health and Medical Adminis…
Health and Medical Administrative Services
$39,940 median earnings
- Cosmetology and Related Pe… $28,983
Cosmetology and Related Personal Grooming Services
$28,983 median earnings
What this shows The highest-earning programs at a school are not necessarily its most popular ones - a small specialized program can post strong median earnings without reflecting the outcome most students here actually see.
Explore Data-Matched Colleges
Matches use Scorecard measures among reporting colleges — not state-system recommendations or geographic proximity.
Similar Enrollment and Sector
Other Public institutions closest in reported enrollment, preferring the same Carnegie classification.
Similar Reported Net Price
Other Public institutions with the nearest reported average net price.
Similar 2013–2023 Net-Price Trend
Same-sector institutions with the same direction and nearest fitted annual change; only series with R² of at least 0.40 qualify.
City Colleges of Chicago-Wilbur Wright College
Chicago, IL
−$364/year · $1/year apart
Lamar State College-Port Arthur
Port Arthur, TX
−$366/year · $1/year apart
J. F. Drake State Community and Technical College
Huntsville, AL
−$366/year · $1/year apart
Empire State University
Saratoga Springs, NY
−$367/year · $2/year apart
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the admissions statistics for Cape Fear Community College? ▼
Cape Fear Community College is a public institution in Wilmington, North Carolina. Undergraduate enrollment is 9,764 students.
How much do Cape Fear Community College former students earn? ▼
Federally aided former students at Cape Fear Community College who were working and not enrolled had median earnings of $38,654 ten years after entry; the cohort is not limited to graduates. Six years after entry, the corresponding median is $32,234.
How much does Cape Fear Community College cost? ▼
The average net price at Cape Fear Community College is $9,610. In-state tuition is $2,748 and out-of-state tuition is $8,892. Median student debt at graduation is $9,500.
What is the graduation rate at Cape Fear Community College? ▼
Cape Fear Community College has a 33.9% completion rate within 150% of normal program time at a less-than-four-year institution.
Is Cape Fear Community College worth the student debt? ▼
The median student debt at Cape Fear Community College is $9,500, while former students earn a median of $38,654 ten years after enrollment. That debt represents about 25% of those annual earnings. Among borrowers who completed their program, 44.3% are repaying their loans within 3 years. Estimated monthly loan payment is $101.
Sources & methodology
Public-college profiles lean on IPEDS enrollment and Scorecard Title-IV outcomes. State appropriations are outside this page; the figures below are the federal cohort measures only.
Every number is read live from the Mar–Jul 2026 Scorecard/IPEDS retrievals. Public institutions often enroll large Title-IV cohorts, so medians can be stable — still cohort averages, never a personal forecast. Read the full methodology for how the data is sourced, computed, and verified.
- College Scorecard, U.S. Department of Education - former-student earnings, cost & completion (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- IPEDS, National Center for Education Statistics - enrollment, admissions, Carnegie class & demographics (nces.ed.gov/ipeds).
- U.S. Treasury / IRS earnings linkage - median earnings 6 & 10 years after enrollment for federal-aid recipients (irs.gov).
- College Scorecard, Field of Study - program-level (credential) earnings & debt (collegescorecard.ed.gov).
- Federal Student Aid (Title IV / NSLDS) - U.S. Department of Education - net price, student debt & aid-recipient repayment outcomes (studentaid.gov).
Where to go next from Cape Fear Community College
- Compare Cape Fear Community College against schools with similar outcomes at a lower average net price.Find similar schools that cost less
- Browse every reporting college in North Carolina side by side.Browse North Carolina
- See how fields of study differ on former-student earnings and debt.Explore programs
Public-college Scorecard figures are historical Title-IV cohort averages — confirm current tuition, aid, and admissions rules with the institution before deciding.
Every figure on PlainCollege is rendered directly from the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard data, no number is typed in by an editor. Public-institution profiles compile Scorecard Title-IV earnings, IPEDS enrollment/admissions, and Treasury linkage fields — no editor-typed figures. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error on this page. Review the public data changelog. Data current as of Mar–Jul 2026 retrievals.