by our College Data Analytics TeamEast Carolina University is a public institution in Greenville, North Carolina enrolling 19,896 undergraduates. It accepts 89% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 63%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #448 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 9%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
East Carolina University ranks #448 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 9%.
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
East Carolina University was awarded 288 badges in the 2027 rankings.
According to College Factual’s 2027 analysis, ECU is ranked #448 out of 5,159 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
ECU also holds the #12 spot on the Best Colleges in North Carolina ranking.
See all of the rankings for East Carolina University.
East Carolina University has an acceptance rate of 89%, so it is easier to gain admission to this school than some others. Still, the admissions staff will examine your application closely to make sure you’re a good fit for ECU.
About 6% of students accepted to ECU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 540 and 630. Math scores were between 530 and 610.
ECU received ACT scores from 13% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 21 and 26.
Learn more about East Carolina University admissions.
The student to faculty ratio at East Carolina University is about average at 17 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at East Carolina University is 77%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
East Carolina University has a freshmen retention rate of 83%. That’s a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It’s also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At ECU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 63%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%.
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at East Carolina University.
The current enrollment includes 19,896 undergraduates at ECU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at East Carolina University.
The overall average net price of ECU is $17,140. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $10,046 | $11,699 | $14,904 | $20,417 | $23,028 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid. Note that the net price is typically less than the published price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of ECU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At ECU, approximately 39% of students took out student loans averaging $6,370 a year. That adds up to $25,480 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate is 4.7%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you’ll be able to pay back your student loans. Get more details about paying for East Carolina University.
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from East Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $55,146 in their early years. This is good news for future East Carolina University graduates since it is 12% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at East Carolina University make the most money.
East Carolina University is a public institution situated in Greenville, North Carolina. Greenville is a great location for students who prefer city over country life. Get more details about the location of East Carolina University.
Contact details for East Carolina University are listed below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | East 5th Street, Greenville, NC 27858-4353 |
| Phone: | 2523286131 |
| Website: | www.ecu.edu |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Carolina_University |
| Facebook: | www.facebook.com/EastCarolina |
| Twitter: | www.twitter.com/EastCarolina |
In the latest year of available data, students from 27 majors graduated from East Carolina University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 7,369 | NA |
| Business Administration & Management | 742 | $51,379 |
| Nursing | 550 | $66,874 |
| General Psychology | 330 | $26,525 |
| Public Health | 315 | $32,168 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 296 | $33,632 |
| Marketing | 272 | $44,500 |
| General Biology | 269 | $32,720 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 212 | $29,127 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 207 | $36,659 |
16,144 students took at least one online class at East Carolina University.
Online learning options are becoming more and more popular at American colleges and universities. Online classes are great for students who have busy schedules or for those who just want to study on their own time.
Learn more about online learning at East Carolina University.
Curious how schools stack up against ECU? Match them up using College Combat, a free interactive tool for comparing colleges on the features you care about.
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References