Best Computer programs in North Carolina, ranked by enrollment
Conduct research into fundamental computer and information science as theorists, designers, or inventors.
98 schools in North Carolina run programs that feed this job, graduating 10,824 people a year. The job pays a median of $128,370 in North Carolina across about 600 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Carolina that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
12 programs in North Carolina that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Carolina (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Carolina page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Information Technologymain feeder CIP 11.0103In North Carolina → | 6,176 | 57.1% | 69 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 2 | Computer Sciencemain feeder CIP 11.0701In North Carolina → | 3,741 | 34.6% | 24 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 3 | Information Science/Studiesmain feeder CIP 11.0401In North Carolina → | 284 | 2.6% | 8 | $57,313 | $25,833 |
| 4 | CIP 51.2706In North Carolina → | 185 | 1.7% | 6 | $47,775 | $25,000 |
| 5 | CIP 30.7001In North Carolina → | 169 | 1.6% | 10 | — | — |
| 6 | Computer and Information Sciences, Generalmain feeder CIP 11.0101In North Carolina → | 137 | 1.3% | 14 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 7 | CIP 26.1103In North Carolina → | 60 | 0.6% | 3 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 8 | Artificial Intelligencemain feeder CIP 11.0102In North Carolina → | 45 | 0.4% | 5 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 9 | Informaticsmain feeder CIP 11.0104In North Carolina → | 17 | 0.2% | 2 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 10 | CIP 30.3101In North Carolina → | 7 | 0.1% | 1 | $57,986 | $25,812 |
| 11 | CIP 11.0902In North Carolina → | 2 | 0.0% | 1 | $43,901 | $22,822 |
| 12 | Computer and Information Sciences, Othermain feeder CIP 11.0199In North Carolina → | 1 | 0.0% | 1 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
Top 25 schools in North Carolina
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 29 of the 98 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | University of North Carolina at Charlotte Charlotte, NC Public · 6 feeder programs | 1,635 | Computer Science | $67,704 | 69% | — | 80% |
| 2 | Wake Technical Community College Raleigh, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 1,430 | Information Technology | $55,264 | 33% | — | — |
| 3 | North Carolina State University at Raleigh Raleigh, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 888 | Computer Science | $85,809 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 4 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC Public · 5 feeder programs | 698 | Computer Science | $90,293 | 91% | — | 15% |
| 5 | Fayetteville Technical Community College Fayetteville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 468 | Information Technology | $32,154 | 24% | — | — |
| 6 | Duke University Durham, NC Private not-for-profit · 5 feeder programs | 437 | Computer Science | $133,356 | 97% | $16,260 | 6% |
| 7 | Central Piedmont Community College Charlotte, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 378 | Information Technology | $40,854 | 31% | — | — |
| 8 | Rowan - Cabarrus Community College Salisbury, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 337 | Information Technology | $34,853 | 35% | — | — |
| 9 | Forsyth Technical Community College Winston-Salem, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 327 | Information Technology | $38,837 | 34% | — | — |
| 10 | Davidson - Davie Community College Thomasville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 254 | Information Technology | $36,168 | 46% | — | — |
| 11 | Wayne Community College Goldsboro, NC Public · 2 feeder programs | 241 | Information Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 12 | Asheville - Buncombe Technical Community College Asheville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 222 | Information Technology | $41,027 | 40% | — | — |
| 13 | North Carolina A & T State University Greensboro, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 206 | Computer Science | $81,174 | 57% | — | 50% |
| 14 | East Carolina University Greenville, NC Public · 5 feeder programs | 197 | Computer Science | $65,958 | 63% | — | 89% |
| 15 | University of North Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro, NC Public · 6 feeder programs | 185 | Computer Science | $67,781 | 56% | — | 89% |
| 16 | University of North Carolina Wilmington Wilmington, NC Public · 3 feeder programs | 160 | Computer Science | $66,977 | 71% | — | 64% |
| 17 | Guilford Technical Community College Jamestown, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 149 | Information Technology | $36,227 | 31% | — | — |
| 18 | Appalachian State University Boone, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 143 | Computer Science | $68,675 | 75% | — | 90% |
| 19 | Johnston Community College Smithfield, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 137 | Information Technology | — | 37% | — | — |
| 20 | Pitt Community College Winterville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 105 | Information Technology | — | 35% | — | — |
| 21 | Coastal Carolina Community College Jacksonville, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Information Technology | — | 49% | — | — |
| 22 | Cleveland Community College Shelby, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 86 | Information Technology | — | 32% | — | — |
| 23 | Cape Fear Community College Wilmington, NC Public · 1 feeder programs | 81 | Information Technology | — | 34% | — | — |
| 24 | Strayer University - North Carolina Greensboro, NC Private for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 81 | Information Technology | $67,315 | 33% | — | — |
| 25 | Wake Forest University Winston-Salem, NC Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs | 77 | Computer Science | $75,625 | 89% | $20,914 | 22% |
All 98 schools in North Carolina
Every school in North Carolina with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Charlotte | Charlotte | Public | 1,635 | 6 |
| Wake Technical Community College | Raleigh | Public | 1,430 | 1 |
| North Carolina State University at Raleigh | Raleigh | Public | 888 | 3 |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Chapel Hill | Public | 698 | 5 |
| Fayetteville Technical Community College | Fayetteville | Public | 468 | 1 |
| Duke University | Durham | Private not-for-profit | 437 | 5 |
| Central Piedmont Community College | Charlotte | Public | 378 | 2 |
| Rowan - Cabarrus Community College | Salisbury | Public | 337 | 1 |
| Forsyth Technical Community College | Winston-Salem | Public | 327 | 1 |
| Davidson - Davie Community College | Thomasville | Public | 254 | 1 |
| Wayne Community College | Goldsboro | Public | 241 | 2 |
| Asheville - Buncombe Technical Community College | Asheville | Public | 222 | 1 |
| North Carolina A & T State University | Greensboro | Public | 206 | 3 |
| East Carolina University | Greenville | Public | 197 | 5 |
| University of North Carolina at Greensboro | Greensboro | Public | 185 | 6 |
What computer and information research scientists earn in North Carolina
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $140,300. North Carolina pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Carolina
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Computer and Information Research Scientists page.
How to become a Computer
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Master's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in North Carolina
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 15 majors mapped to Computer and Information Research Scientists14 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0101Computer and Information Sciences, General
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0104Informatics
- 11.0199Computer and Information Sciences, Other
- 11.0401Information Science/Studies
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 11.0902Cloud Computing
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 30.3101Human Computer Interaction
- 30.7001Data Science, General
- 30.7099Data Science, Other
- 40.0512Cheminformatics/Chemistry Informatics(no graduates reported)
- 51.2706Medical Informatics
Common questions
Answers for people weighing computer and information research scientists programs in North Carolina.
What degree do you need to become a Computer?+
Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Information Technology, which awarded 6,176 degrees in North Carolina in 2024-25, 57.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Computer?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 12 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer and Information Sciences, Computer Science, Information Science/Studies, Medical Illustration and Informatics, plus 4 more. Together they graduate about 10,824 people a year in North Carolina.
How much do computer and information research scientists earn in North Carolina?+
The median is $128,370 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 8.5% below the U.S. median of $140,300. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for computer and information research scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +19.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 3,200 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in North Carolina?+
98 institutions in North Carolina reported graduates from at least one of the 12 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do computer and information research scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Computer Scientist, Research Scientist, Computer Specialist, Control System Computer Scientist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-1221.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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