Bachelor's · Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Is Public Policy Analysis at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 2.4 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $56,037
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $79,918
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $12,300
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $48k (likely $48k – $48k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $43k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in NC
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 2.4 years (likely 2.1–2.8)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $203k (likely $145k – $264k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $723k (likely $577k – $894k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 91%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 20%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Public Policy Analysis at other schools
🍎 Getting ready in high school
Students heading toward teaching & helping people majors like this one often take these classes. Every school offers a different mix, so check with your counselor.
AP classes
- AP Psychology
- AP English Language and Composition
- AP Statistics
IB Higher Level
- Psychology HL
- Language A HL
Build my roadmap 🗺️ Middle school to career, plus high schools near you that offer these classes.
Other majors at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences (Master's)$216,728
- Medical Clinical Sciences/Graduate Medical Studies (Master's)$204,372
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$203,447
- Dentistry (First professional)$198,570
- Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (Master's)$170,529
- Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods (Master's)$158,240
- Health and Medical Administrative Services (Doctoral)$144,922
- Law (First professional)$142,928
- Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (First professional)$142,610
- Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration (Doctoral)$139,657
- Computer Science (Bachelor's)$137,047
- Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology (Doctoral)$136,705
Public Policy Analysis at other schools in North Carolina
- Duke University$103,071