Wake Forest University Data & Information Overview
If you want to know more about Wake Forest University, such as what majors does it offer, how diverse it is, how well it ranks, and more, this is your one-stop resource. If you’re interested in learning more about a particular stat, just click on its tile to go to a new page that covers the topic more in-depth. Also, you can jump to any section of this page by clicking one of the links below.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
How Well Is Wake Forest University Ranked?

2022 Rankings
In its yearly rankings, College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities to determine which ones are the best in a variety of categories, such as overall value, quality, diversity, which schools are the best for each major, and much more.
Wake Forest University was awarded 1,243 badges in the 2022 rankings. The highest ranked major at the school is other student counseling and personnel services.
Overall Quality
Wake Forest University landed the #56 spot in College Factual's 2022 ranking of best overall colleges in the United States. The higher ed experts analyzed 2,576 colleges and universities across the nation to determine this ranking. This lands it a coveted spot in the top 5% of all colleges and universities in the country.
Wake Forest University is also ranked #2 out of 113 schools in North Carolina.
See all of the rankings for Wake Forest University.
Is It Hard to Get Into Wake Forest University?
Acceptance Rate
If you're applying to Wake Forest University you'll face some tough competition, since the school's acceptance rate is only 32%. Definitely don't wait until the last minute to submit your application, since applying early may be in your favor.
Learn more about Wake Forest University admissions.
Wake Forest University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio is often used to measure the number of teaching resources that a college or university offers its students. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1, but at Wake Forest University it is much better at 11 to 1. That's good news for students who want to interact more on a personal level with their teachers.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
When estimating how much access students will have to their teachers, some people like to look at what percentage of faculty members are full time. This is because part-time teachers may not have as much time to spend on campus as their full-time counterparts.
The full-time faculty percentage at Wake Forest University is 77%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at Wake Forest University
Freshmen Retention Rate
The freshmen retention rate of 95% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like Wake Forest University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That's certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
Graduation Rate
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At Wake Forest University the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 85%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at Wake Forest University.
Wake Forest University Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 5,441 undergraduates at Wake Forest University with 5,367 being full-time and 74 being part-time.
How Much Does Wake Forest University Cost?
The overall average net price of Wake Forest University is $29,990. 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.Net Price by Income Group for Wake Forest University
$0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
---|---|---|---|---|
$5,250 | $5,981 | $12,004 | $23,550 | $50,359 |
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 for a school. For more information on the sticker price of Wake Forest University, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
While almost two-thirds of students nationwide take out loans to pay for college, the percentage may be quite different for the school you plan on attending. At Wake Forest University, approximately 18% of students took out student loans averaging $12,821 a year. That adds up to $51,284 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at Wake Forest University is 1.6%. 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 Wake Forest University.
How Much Money Do Wake Forest University Graduates Make?
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University make about $63,800 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future Wake Forest University graduates since it is 60% more than the average college graduate's salary of $39,802 per year.
See which majors at Wake Forest University make the most money.
Location of Wake Forest University
Located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Wake Forest University is a private not-for-profit institution. Winston-Salem is a great location for students who prefer city over country life.Get more details about the location of Wake Forest University.

Contact details for Wake Forest University are given below.
Contact Details | |
---|---|
Address: | 1834 Wake Forest Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 |
Phone: | 336-758-5000 |
Website: | www.wfu.edu/ |
Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/wfuniversity |
Twitter: | https://twitter.com/WakeForest1834 |
Wake Forest University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 53 majors graduated from Wake Forest University. Of these students, 1,442 received undergraduate degrees and 1,257 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
---|---|---|
Political Science & Government | 146 | $57,318 |
Economics | 139 | $58,673 |
Communication & Media Studies | 113 | $39,369 |
General Business/Commerce | 112 | $65,131 |
Finance & Financial Management | 108 | $81,111 |
General Psychology | 104 | $38,289 |
General Biology | 96 | $23,227 |
Health & Physical Education | 70 | $28,236 |
Sociology | 51 | $42,235 |
General English Literature | 49 | $39,585 |
Online Learning at Wake Forest University
Online courses area a great option for busy, working students as well as for those who have scheduling conflicts and want to study on their own time. As time goes by, expect to see more and more online learning options become available.
In 2019-2020, 7,591 students took at least one online class at Wake Forest University. This is an increase from the 579 students who took online classes the previous year.
Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
---|---|---|
2019-2020 | 7,591 | 1,370 |
2018-2019 | 579 | 455 |
2017-2018 | 511 | 415 |
2016-2017 | 433 | 332 |
2015-2016 | 369 | 293 |
Learn more about online learning at Wake Forest University.
Find Out More About Wake Forest University
Notes and References
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
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By JHMM13 under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.