North Carolina State University — All Rankings Are Wrong

Back to Colleges

Basic Information

Type Public

Geographical Reach Regional

Location Raleigh, NC

Population 1,300,000

Website https://www.ncsu.edu/

Weather

Comfortable Days 115 (84%)

Sunshine Hours 2,680 (63%)

Days Without Precipitation 256 (71%)

Demographics

Total Undergraduates 26,736

Men / Women 50% / 50%

From State 87%

From Region 4%

Athletes 2.6%

Racial/Ethnic

White 66%

Asian 10%

Hispanic 10%

Black 6%

Mixed 5%

International 2%

Native American 0%

Men in the Entering Class

Men

Entering Class by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of the full-time first-time degree-seeking cohort. Groups IPEDS reports separately — two or more races, and race unknown — are left out, so the lines don't sum to 100%.

Enrolled Undergraduates by Race & Ethnicity

Native Asian Black Hispanic White International

Share of all full-time degree-seeking undergraduates, not just the entering class. Same excluded groups as above.

IPEDS Admissions (2011–2024), Graduation Rates (2011–2024) and 12-month Enrollment (2020–2025) surveys. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Schools & Majors

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences	653	39% / 61%	1%	$62,936	64	98%
Biochemistry	71 —	45% / 55%	1%	$88,073	92	100%
Agribusiness Management	128 —	66% / 34%	2%	$67,302	72	97%
Agricultural Education	7 —	14% / 86%	0%	$59,033	55	96%
Agricultural Systems Technology	18 —	78% / 22%	0%	$67,833	73	100%
Agricultural and Extension Education	— —	—	—	$65,909	70	—
Agriculture	40 —	35% / 65%	0%	$54,508	43	100%
Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture	15 —	33% / 67%	0%	$56,497	49	—
Animal Science	193 —	18% / 82%	0%	$54,405	42	97%
Crop and Soil Sciences	29 —	69% / 31%	3%	$55,181	45	95%
Food Science	19 —	47% / 53%	5%	$73,508	80	100%
Horticultural Science	36 —	44% / 56%	0%	$55,181	45	95%
Nutrition Science	85 —	18% / 82%	1%	$63,878	66	100%
Poultry Science	11 —	45% / 55%	9%	$54,405	42	97%
Turfgrass Science	1 —	100% / 0%	0%	$56,290	48	—

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Design	219	31% / 69%	1%	$61,389	61	96%
Environmental Design	37 —	27% / 73%	0%	$69,691	76	100%
Architecture	34 —	38% / 62%	0%	$76,519	83	92%
Art History	44 —	30% / 70%	0%	$53,807	41	94%
Art and Design	27 —	26% / 74%	7%	$40,451	9	95%
Communication Design	26 —	35% / 65%	0%	$62,396	63	97%
Graphic Design	28 —	14% / 86%	0%	$62,396	63	97%
Industrial Design	23 —	52% / 48%	0%	$62,396	63	97%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Education	193	24% / 76%	1%	$56,042	47	94%
University Studies	10 —	30% / 70%	0%	$65,390	69	97%
Education	41 —	29% / 71%	0%	$55,459	46	—
Elementary Education	67 —	1% / 99%	0%	$52,856	38	92%
Mathematics Education	12 —	17% / 83%	8%	$59,033	55	96%
Middle School Education	13 —	23% / 77%	0%	$52,856	38	92%
Science Education	16 —	25% / 75%	0%	$59,033	55	96%
Technology Education	34 —	62% / 38%	0%	$59,033	55	96%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Engineering	1,855	71% / 29%	4%	$101,484	97	97%
Aerospace Engineering	103 —	85% / 15%	4%	$96,434	96	100%
Biomedical Engineering	182 —	44% / 56%	5%	$101,474	97	91%
Chemical Engineering	152 —	51% / 49%	3%	$105,993	98	95%
Civil Engineering	142 —	70% / 30%	1%	$87,018	91	97%
Computer Engineering	142 —	84% / 16%	6%	$113,535	99	95%
Construction Engineering	19 —	84% / 16%	0%	$94,819	95	100%
Electrical Engineering	179 —	84% / 16%	4%	$100,146	97	92%
Environmental Engineering	23 —	43% / 57%	0%	$86,093	90	97%
General Engineering	34 —	82% / 18%	3%	$100,170	97	100%
Industrial Engineering	89 —	58% / 42%	2%	$98,807	96	100%
Materials Science and Engineering	32 —	53% / 47%	3%	$90,268	93	97%
Mechanical Engineering	284 —	82% / 18%	2%	$93,305	94	100%
Nuclear Engineering	18 —	100% / 0%	0%	$100,545	97	100%
Computer Science	386 —	77% / 23%	6%	$114,489	99	98%
Biological and Agricultural Engineering	35 —	37% / 63%	6%	$87,663	91	97%
Science Technologies/Technicians	16 —	25% / 75%	0%	$89,606	93	100%
Environmental Engineering Technology	19 —	47% / 53%	0%	$77,102	84	100%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Humanities and Social Sciences	1,265	30% / 70%	1%	$58,434	54	93%
Anthropology	29 —	24% / 76%	0%	$46,349	19	91%
Communication	207 —	27% / 73%	0%	$57,103	50	86%
English	98 —	27% / 73%	1%	$49,748	28	89%
Foreign Languages	32 —	25% / 75%	0%	$60,119	58	95%
Global Studies	55 —	27% / 73%	4%	$73,661	81	92%
History	63 —	62% / 38%	2%	$51,559	34	88%
Interdisciplinary Studies	20 —	30% / 70%	0%	$65,390	69	97%
Philosophy	16 —	56% / 44%	0%	$58,264	53	100%
Political Science	172 —	43% / 57%	0%	$66,285	71	96%
Psychology	304 —	18% / 82%	1%	$55,460	46	94%
Religion/Religious Studies	8 —	50% / 50%	0%	$56,068	47	—
Science, Technology and Society	52 —	54% / 46%	2%	$73,649	81	91%
Social Work	72 —	15% / 85%	0%	$49,901	29	100%
Sociology	57 —	35% / 65%	2%	$52,664	37	98%
Criminology	80 —	26% / 74%	0%	$66,031	70	97%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Natural Resources	405	57% / 43%	1%	$64,665	68	99%
Environmental Science	73 —	26% / 74%	1%	$53,084	39	100%
Forest Biomaterials	49 —	53% / 47%	0%	$73,713	81	97%
Forestry	16 —	75% / 25%	0%	$73,713	81	97%
Natural Resources	63 —	46% / 54%	0%	$53,084	39	100%
Natural Resources Management	19 —	32% / 68%	0%	$57,636	52	—
Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management	36 —	47% / 53%	0%	$52,146	36	100%
Sport Management	149 —	81% / 19%	3%	$75,210	82	98%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
College of Sciences	849	38% / 62%	3%	$68,822	75	96%
Applied Mathematics	32 —	59% / 41%	9%	$83,022	88	—
Chemistry	57 —	46% / 54%	4%	$77,470	84	100%
Geosciences	13 —	62% / 38%	0%	$61,414	61	100%
Marine Sciences	15 —	60% / 40%	0%	$61,414	61	100%
Mathematics	52 —	71% / 29%	10%	$92,957	94	97%
Meteorology	15 —	67% / 33%	0%	$63,695	66	—
Physics	33 —	79% / 21%	0%	$51,920	35	90%
Statistics	61 —	62% / 38%	13%	$80,199	86	96%
Biology	409 —	25% / 75%	2%	$70,039	76	94%
Botany	31 —	29% / 71%	0%	$61,174	60	100%
Genetics	37 —	24% / 76%	0%	$55,737	46	95%
Microbiology	38 —	37% / 63%	0%	$64,997	68	100%
Zoology	56 —	27% / 73%	2%	$38,730	7	98%

⇅	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Poole College of Management	1,134	58% / 42%	4%	$83,661	89	95%
Accounting	137 —	50% / 50%	1%	$86,101	90	95%
Business Administration	921 —	58% / 42%	4%	$83,357	89	94%
Economics	76 —	75% / 25%	13%	$82,960	88	96%

⇅	Trends	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Wilson College of Textiles		194	14% / 86%	3%	$72,887	80	96%
Textile Engineering		194 —	14% / 86%	3%	$72,887	80	96%

Financial

In-State Tuition & Fees $9,019

Out-of-State Tuition & Fees $33,880

Est. In-State Cost $11,667

Est. Out-of-State Cost $43,827

ROI Percentile 84th

Retention & Graduation

Full-Time Retention 94%

4-Year Graduation Rate 68%

6-Year Graduation Rate 85%

Transfer-Out Rate 10%

Six-Year Graduation Rate

Graduated

Students finishing within 150% of normal time. Each year labels the cohort that entered six years earlier — 2024 tracks the class that started in 2018.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Gender

Men Women

IPEDS reports the cohort as men and women only.

Six-Year Graduation Rate by Race & Ethnicity

Asian Black Hispanic White International

Each group's completers over its own share of the entering cohort. Groups making up less than 2% of everyone this college graduated over the period are left off — their rates swing on a handful of students and read as noise.

IPEDS Graduation Rates survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Earnings by Major Category

Each major category's degree-weighted estimated median 5-year earnings at this college, expressed as a z-score against the national degree-weighted distribution for that category. 0 is the national average. The shaded band between +1.28 and −1.28 marks the central 80% of the national distribution (10th–90th percentile).

Academics

⇅	%	Degrees	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employment
Engineering	23.5%	1,593	64% / 36%	3%	$95,565	95	96%
Business & Economics	19.5%	1,319	61% / 39%	4%	$81,847	88	95%
Humanities & Social Sciences	18.2%	1,232	30% / 70%	1%	$58,336	53	93%
Agriculture & Food Science	13.2%	893	38% / 62%	1%	$59,561	57	98%
Life & Natural Sciences	8.7%	586	28% / 72%	2%	$70,525	77	96%
Computer Science	5.7%	386	77% / 23%	6%	$114,489	99	98%
Physical Sciences & Math	4.1%	278	62% / 38%	6%	$76,211	83	97%
Education	2.7%	183	23% / 77%	1%	$55,532	46	94%
Arts	2.7%	182	32% / 68%	1%	$59,702	57	95%
Professional	1.5%	99	30% / 70%	0%	$68,156	74	97%
Health Sciences	0.2%	16	25% / 75%	0%	$89,606	93	100%

Research R1

⇅	Research $	Rank	Federal	Industry $	PhDs	Rank	PhD students	Postdocs
Engineering	$218M	#18	53%	$24.2M	222	#9	1,328	167
Life & Natural Sciences	$163M	#32	37%	$12.1M	45	#59	366	70
Agriculture & Food Science	$155M	#9	27%	$13.2M	39	#10	267	211
Physical Sciences & Math	$96.0M	#34	59%	$2.7M	99	#21	540	58
Computer Science	$29.9M	#29	63%	$1.2M	35	#21	247	2
Education	$14.3M	#41	28%	$5.5M	94	#19	—	—
Humanities & Social Sciences	$12.1M	#138	44%	$1.3M	41	#120	153	5
Business & Economics	$9.3M	#71	18%	$0.9M	16	#78	62	—
Health Sciences	$0	#441	—	$0	3	#201	—	4
Total	$698M	#47	44%	$61.1M	594	#29	2,963	517

Expenditure and funding source: NSF HERD, FY2024. Degrees: IPEDS completions, 2023–24. Students and postdocs: NSF Survey of Graduate Students and Postdoctorates, fall 2024, which covers science, engineering and selected health fields only. An em dash means the source does not report the figure, which is not the same as zero.

Admissions

Uses Common App Yes

Acceptance Rate 40%

Yield (Unbound) 30%

Early Action Nov 1

Regular Decision Jan 1

Acceptance Rates

	In-State	Out-of-State	International
Regular Decision	46%	34%	25%

Early Action and Restrictive Early Action applicants are reported at the regular-decision rate.

Acceptance & Yield

Acceptance Yield

Applicants, Admitted & Enrolled

Applicants Admitted Enrolled

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line.

Standardized Tests

Test Policy optional

Submitted Test Scores 40%

SAT Range 1310 – 1440

SAT Math Range 660 – 730

SAT RW Range 650 – 720

SAT Composite

25th 75th

SAT Math

25th 75th

SAT Reading & Writing

25th 75th

Submitting a Test Score

Submitted

IPEDS Admissions survey, 2011–2024. Years a college didn't file leave a gap in the line. Test-score submission adds SAT and ACT submitters, capped at 100% — a student can send both.