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Best Communications Colleges in North Carolina

By David Krug, Co-Founder, CollegeRanker · Updated 2026-05-31 · 25 schools · Agent Insights
25
Schools Analyzed
$53,817
Avg. Earnings (10yr)
60%
Avg. Graduation Rate
$20,466
Avg. Net Price

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This ranking scores 25 institutions on graduation rates, graduate earnings, debt burdens, and social mobility data from Opportunity Insights. Every data point comes from federal sources. No surveys, no opinions.

Social mobility carries the heaviest weight in our algorithm. We use Raj Chetty's Mobility Report Card — built on 30 million anonymized tax records — to measure whether a college changes a family's economic trajectory across generations. Schools that take low-income students and launch them into higher earnings rank higher than schools that admit wealthy students and take credit for their success.

The transparency penalty matters here. Schools that don't report their data get scored lower than schools that do. If an institution won't show you its numbers, we think you should know that before you write them a tuition check.

Quick Numbers

Schools ranked 25
Avg. earnings at 10yr $53,817
Avg. graduation rate 60%
Avg. net price $20,466
Avg. median debt $23,420

How We Ranked

Communications programs in North Carolina ranked by outcomes and program concentration

Read our full methodology →

Earnings vs. Cost

Each dot is a ranked school. Up = higher earnings. Right = higher cost. Top-left is the best value.

$15K$68K$120K$0$50KNET PRICEUniversity ofDavidson CollegeWake ForestElon UniversityAppalachian State

Graduation Rates

Longer bars = higher graduation rate.

University of North Caro…92%Davidson College91%Wake Forest University90%Elon University84%Appalachian State Univer…74%University of North Caro…68%University of North Caro…71%East Carolina University62%University of North Caro…55%University of North Caro…57%Meredith College68%Catawba College50%High Point University72%North Carolina A & T Sta…56%Wingate University47%Campbell University58%Queens University of Cha…64%Winston-Salem State Univ…48%Pfeiffer University39%Barton College48%

Top 3

#1

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC

Graduation92%
Earnings$72,200
Net Price$11,655

View full profile →
#2

Davidson College

Davidson, NC

Graduation91%
Earnings$81,400
Net Price$17,379

View full profile →
#3

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC

Graduation90%
Earnings$78,158
Net Price$28,719

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Full Rankings

#1

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, NC · 20,752 students · Public

15% accepted 92% graduate $72,200 earnings
University's full profile
#2

Davidson College

Davidson, NC · 1,867 students · Private nonprofit

13% accepted 91% graduate $81,400 earnings
Davidson's full profile
#3

Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, NC · 5,485 students · Private nonprofit

22% accepted 90% graduate $78,158 earnings
Wake's full profile
#4

Elon University

Elon, NC · 6,452 students · Private nonprofit

66% accepted 84% graduate $74,545 earnings
Elon's full profile
#5

Appalachian State University

Boone, NC · 19,444 students · Public

90% accepted 74% graduate $51,836 earnings
Appalachian's full profile
#6

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Charlotte, NC · 24,453 students · Public

80% accepted 68% graduate $57,289 earnings
University's full profile
#7

University of North Carolina Wilmington

Wilmington, NC · 14,922 students · Public

64% accepted 71% graduate $54,967 earnings
University's full profile
#8

East Carolina University

Greenville, NC · 19,896 students · Public

89% accepted 62% graduate $55,146 earnings
East's full profile
#9

University of North Carolina Asheville

Asheville, NC · 2,910 students · Public

92% accepted 55% graduate $44,030 earnings
University's full profile
#10

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Greensboro, NC · 14,062 students · Public

89% accepted 57% graduate $48,160 earnings
University's full profile
#11

Meredith College

Raleigh, NC · 1,188 students · Private nonprofit

74% accepted 68% graduate $51,539 earnings
Meredith's full profile
#12

Catawba College

Salisbury, NC · 1,235 students · Private nonprofit

75% accepted 50% graduate $48,793 earnings
Catawba's full profile
#13

High Point University

High Point, NC · 5,129 students · Private nonprofit

75% accepted 72% graduate $61,389 earnings
High's full profile
#14

North Carolina A & T State University

Greensboro, NC · 12,182 students · Public

50% accepted 56% graduate $44,440 earnings
North's full profile
#15

Wingate University

Wingate, NC · 2,668 students · Private nonprofit

91% accepted 47% graduate $52,649 earnings
Wingate's full profile
#16

Campbell University

Buies Creek, NC · 2,680 students · Private nonprofit

87% accepted 58% graduate $54,886 earnings
Campbell's full profile
#17

Queens University of Charlotte

Charlotte, NC · 1,211 students · Private nonprofit

62% accepted 64% graduate $57,673 earnings
Queens's full profile
#18

Winston-Salem State University

Winston-Salem, NC · 4,170 students · Public

78% accepted 48% graduate $45,344 earnings
Winston-Salem's full profile
#19

Pfeiffer University

Misenheimer, NC · 655 students · Private nonprofit

96% accepted 39% graduate $51,562 earnings
Pfeiffer's full profile
#20

Barton College

Wilson, NC · 982 students · Private nonprofit

94% accepted 48% graduate $47,913 earnings
Barton's full profile
#21

North Carolina Central University

Durham, NC · 6,081 students · Public

87% accepted 44% graduate $42,968 earnings
North's full profile
#22

Lees-McRae College

Banner Elk, NC · 873 students · Private nonprofit

77% accepted 43% graduate $43,415 earnings
Lees-McRae's full profile
#23

Gardner-Webb University

Boiling Springs, NC · 1,856 students · Private nonprofit

77% accepted 59% graduate $48,039 earnings
Gardner-Webb's full profile
#24

Shaw University

Raleigh, NC · 875 students · Private nonprofit

80% accepted 21% graduate $34,409 earnings
Shaw's full profile
#25

Johnson C Smith University

Charlotte, NC · 1,244 students · Private nonprofit

45% accepted 34% graduate $42,680 earnings
Johnson's full profile

Sources & Citations

[1]

U.S. Department of Education. College Scorecard Data. Federal Student Aid, National Center for Education Statistics. →

[2]

National Center for Education Statistics. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). →

DK

David Krug

Co-Founder, CollegeRanker

David Krug is the co-founder of CollegeRanker and a data systems architect focused on making institutional research accessible to families. He builds the data pipelines and ranking algorithms that power CollegeRanker, drawing from federal datasets and Raj Chetty's Opportunity Insights research to measure what traditional rankings ignore: whether a college actually changes a family's economic trajectory.

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