Wake Forest University

What the IPEDS & College Scorecard Data Shows for Wake Forest University

Wake Forest University operates as a private nonprofit institution located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (city: large), with a total reported enrollment of 5,485 students of which 5,610 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. Wake Forest University is categorized as “16” 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 21.7%, drawn from the most recent IPEDS Fall enrollment survey, with an average SAT of 1,475. The average net price after grants and scholarships is $28,719, with published in-state tuition of $67,642 and a Pell grant recipient share of 10.1%. Median federal student debt at graduation is $21,500, drawn from the U.S. Treasury-matched College Scorecard file.

Outcomes reveal whether the investment pays back. The 4-year completion rate is 90.0%, and the first-year retention rate is 92.6%. Graduates earn a median of $78,158 ten years after enrolling, compared with $67,722 six years post-enrollment. Within three years of entering repayment, 91300.0% of borrowers are making progress on their federal loans, and 83.1% 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.