North Carolina Central University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for North Carolina Central University

North Carolina Central University operates as a public institution located in Durham, North Carolina (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 6,081 students of which 6,800 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. North Carolina Central University is categorized as “18” 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 87.0%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,050 and an ACT midpoint of 18. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $15,359, with published in-state tuition of $6,699 and a Pell grant recipient share of 58.7%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $28,250, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 43.9%, and the first-year retention rate is 72.7%. Graduates earn a median of $42,968 ten years after enrolling, compared with $35,967 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 366100.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 50.0% 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.