2023 Best Value Colleges for Criminology (Income $0-$30k) in North Carolina

It’s not easy to decide which college to attend when there so many options available for students. At College Factual, we’re committed to helping you make that decision by providing information such as that found in our “Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking.

Criminology is the 80th most popular major in the country with 11,039 degrees awarded in 2020-2021. In 2019-2020, criminology graduates who were awarded their degree in 2017-2019, earned an average of $33,568 and had an average of $24,453 in loans still to pay off.

Across North Carolina, there were 209 criminology graduates with average earnings and debt of $31,511 and $25,125 respectively.

This year’s “Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking analyzed 4 colleges that offered a degree in criminology. The schools that top this list are recognized because they have great criminology programs and cost less that schools of similar quality.

Some of the factors we look at when determining these rankings are overall quality of the criminology program at the school and the cost of the school after aid is awarded among other things. For more information, check out our ranking methodology.

One Size Does Not Fit All

Since picking the right college can be one of the most important decisions of your life, we’ve developed the “Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k” ranking, along with many other major-related rankings, to help you make that decision.

One of our other unique offerings is College Combat. This tool lets you build your own customized comparisons utilizing the factors that are most important to you. If you’re torn between two schools, you can use it to help you see how they stack up against one another. Bookmark it so you can compare any new schools that might interest you.

Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k

The following schools top our list of the Best Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k.

Top 4 Best Value Colleges for Criminology (Income $0-$30k) in North Carolina

1

North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina

#1 in overall quality

$7,283 Average Net Price

$49,709 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend North Carolina State University. It ranked #1 on our 2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. NC State is a public institution located in Raleigh, North Carolina. The school has a large population, and it awarded 55 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

NC State not only placed well in this ranking. It is also #1 on our “Best Criminology Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $7,283 for North Carolina Criminology students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend North Carolina State University.

The school has an excellent freshman retention rate of 94%, which means students like the school well enough to return for a second year. The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 2.0%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Read full report on Criminology at NC State

2

University of North Carolina at Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina

#2 in overall quality

$11,710 Average Net Price

$37,326 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend University of North Carolina at Wilmington. It ranked #2 on our 2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a public institution located in Wilmington, North Carolina. The school has a fairly large population, and it awarded 111 ’s degrees in 2020-2021.

UNCW did well in our major quality rankings, too. It placed #2 on our “Best Criminology Schools in North Carolina” list. It costs about $11,710 for north carolina criminology students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

The school has an impressive undergrad student loan default rate. It’s only 3.1%, which is much lower than the national rate of 10.1%.

Full University of North Carolina at Wilmington Criminology Report

3

Johnson C Smith University
Charlotte, North Carolina

#3 in overall quality

$20,176 Average Net Price

$28,289 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll be in good company if you decide to attend Johnson C Smith University. It ranked #3 on our 2023 Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k list. Located in Charlotte, North Carolina, this small private not-for-profit school handed out 20 degrees to qualified ’s criminology students in 2020-2021.

JCSU also made our “Best Criminology Schools in North Carolina” list, coming in at #3. The estimated yearly cost for Johnson C Smith University is $20,176 for north carolina criminology students whose families make $0-$30k.

Full JCSU Criminology Report

4

William Peace University
Raleigh, North Carolina

#4 in overall quality

$21,506 Average Net Price

$31,094 Average Early-Career Earnings

You’ll join some of the best and brightest minds around if you attend William Peace University. The school came in at #4 for the Best Value Criminology Schools in North Carolina For Those Making $0-$30k. Raleigh, North Carolina is the setting for this small institution of higher learning. The private not-for-profit school handed out ’s criminology degrees to 22 students in 2020-2021.

In addition to being on our north carolina criminology students whose families make $0-$30k list, WPU has also earned the #4 rank in our “Best Criminology Schools in North Carolina” ranking. It costs about $21,506 for north carolina criminology students whose families make $0-$30k per year to attend WPU.

Read more about Criminology at William Peace University

• Best Value Colleges for Criminology (Income $0-$30k) in the Southeast Region
• Best Value Colleges for Criminology (Income $0-$30k)

Notes and References

References

• The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a branch of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) serves as the core of our data about colleges.
• Some other college data, including much of the graduate earnings data, comes from the U.S. Department of Education’s (College Scorecard).
• Information about the national average student loan default rate is from the U.S. Department of Education and refers to data about the 2016 borrower cohort tracking period for which the cohort default rate (CDR) was 10.1%.

Read more about our data sources and methodologies

Footnotes

• *Average salary, average net price, and average tuition and fees are for the top schools only.
• Some schools otherwise deserving of recognition may have been removed from this ranking in the event that new data identified post-publication warranted it, or at the request of the school.