Carolina University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Carolina University

Carolina University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 460 students of which 498 are undergraduates. Institution-level records in the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) classify each school by Carnegie category, ownership sector, and urban/rural locale, which is how this profile’s peer group and cost cohort are determined. Carolina University is categorized as “20” under the Carnegie classification system, a meaningful signal when comparing like-to-like institutions.

Selectivity and financial signals give context to what applicants can expect. The reported admission rate is 39.5%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $20,828, with published in-state tuition of $17,575 and a Pell grant recipient share of 37.3%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $20,287, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 24.3%, and the first-year retention rate is 56.4%. Graduates earn a median of $32,864 ten years after enrolling, compared with $30,657 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 14400.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 43.5% of graduates earn above the high-school threshold. Treating these numbers as a single snapshot alongside the cost cohort is the standard approach for evaluating ROI under the College Scorecard methodology.