Master's · Raleigh, North Carolina

Is Computer Science at North Carolina State University at Raleigh worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 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 0.6 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $140,915; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $176,969; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $25,485; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Typical borrowing (no graduate net price is published): $27k (likely $27k – $27k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $117k a year vs bachelor's graduates 4 years out in NC; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 0.6 years (likely 0.4–0.8); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $973k (likely $741k – $1.23M); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $2.35M (likely $1.83M – $2.96M); Today's dollars

Scorecard reports no net price for graduate programs; cost is based on what graduates typically borrowed.