Liberal Arts · North Carolina

North Carolina colleges that awarded Liberal Arts credentials

78 colleges in North Carolina reported conferring Liberal Arts credentials to the federal IPEDS collection in 2023-24, and every one of them also awarded in the year before. 78 awarded a degree. That is a record of credentials already awarded, not confirmation that a program is currently admitting.

Colleges and what they awarded

Largest first by credentials conferred in 2023-24. That order measures the size of the graduating class and nothing else: it is not a ranking, and the largest entry is often a certificate provider rather than the strongest degree program. The credential is labelled on every row for exactly that reason.

Colleges in North Carolina that conferred Liberal Arts credentials in 2023-24, with the number awarded and whether any was a degree.
CollegeCredentials awardedHighest level
Central Piedmont Community College1,822Degree
Wake Technical Community College1,458Degree
Cape Fear Community College747Degree
Guilford Technical Community College632Degree
Forsyth Technical Community College489Degree
Catawba Valley Community College443Degree
Gaston College432Degree
Coastal Carolina Community College401Degree
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College377Degree
Alamance Community College335Degree
Fayetteville Technical Community College326Degree
Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute320Degree
Johnston Community College314Degree
Pitt Community College301Degree
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College294Degree
Mitchell Community College284Degree
Vance-Granville Community College280Degree
Central Carolina Community College277Degree
Sandhills Community College260Degree
Davidson-Davie Community College247Degree
South Piedmont Community College241Degree
Cleveland Community College239Degree
Craven Community College237Degree
Durham Technical Community College237Degree
East Carolina University233Degree
Brunswick Community College219Degree
Richmond Community College212Degree
Wayne Community College209Degree
College of the Albemarle201Degree
Surry Community College201Degree
North Carolina A & T State University192Degree
Beaufort County Community College187Degree
Tri-County Community College180Degree
Isothermal Community College164Degree
Randolph Community College162Degree
Lenoir Community College159Degree
Stanly Community College157Degree
Wilkes Community College157Degree
Western Piedmont Community College155Degree
Rockingham Community College150Degree
James Sprunt Community College136Degree
McDowell Technical Community College125Degree
Sampson Community College122Degree
Piedmont Community College109Degree
Halifax Community College107Degree
Bladen Community College104Degree
Fayetteville State University93Degree
Wilson Community College92Degree
Carteret Community College86Degree
Nash Community College84Degree
Haywood Community College77Degree
Robeson Community College75Degree
Roanoke-Chowan Community College62Degree
Montgomery Community College56Degree
Martin Community College53Degree
University of Mount Olive50Degree
Mayland Community College49Degree
North Carolina State University at Raleigh44Degree
Louisburg College42Degree
Edgecombe Community College33Degree

Showing the 60 largest of 78.

How much of this field is in North Carolina

Credentials awarded
15,755
Share of U.S. total
4.6%
Colleges awarding it
78
Awarding a degree
78

North Carolina colleges conferred 15,755 Liberal Arts credentials in 2023-24, which is 4.6% of the 341,083 conferred across the 51 U.S. jurisdictions reporting any. Of the 78 colleges here, every one awarded a degree. These counts measure the size of graduating classes, not program quality, and not how many students are currently enrolled.

What level those credentials were

  • Certificates<1%6
  • Associate95%14,975
  • Bachelor's5%718
  • Graduate<1%56

Most Liberal Arts credentials awarded in North Carolina were associate degrees. That is 26 percentage points more weighted toward associate degrees than the field nationally, where they are 69% of credentials. A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one, and the level a program awards is set by the program rather than by the student.

We measured how much this varies nationwide, and for most fields the credential level is set by the field rather than the state: is your major a certificate or a degree?

How concentrated it is. The single college with the largest reported graduating class in this field accounted for 12% of North Carolina’s Liberal Arts credentials. Activity is spread across several institutions rather than sitting with one.

What this evidence does and does not prove

This lists colleges that reported conferring credentials in this field to the federal IPEDS completions collection, in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. It does not confirm that any of them is currently admitting students to the program, and a college can appear here after deciding to close it. Confirm with the institution before it affects where you apply.

How this list was built

From the U.S. Department of Education IPEDS completions collection, matched to each college on its exact federal program classification. A college appears only if it conferred credentials in both 2022-23 and 2023-24, which is what separates a running program from one that has already closed.

This page exists because its list of colleges is materially different from that of every closely related field in North Carolina — the fields a reader could otherwise mistake it for, such as two engineering disciplines, or nursing and practical nursing. Where a related field resolves to the same colleges, the second page would be the first one with its title changed, and CampusPin does not publish it. Sharing colleges with an unrelated field is different, and not a reason to withhold the page: in most states the same colleges award business, psychology and biology alike, which says something about the colleges rather than about the fields. We measured exactly how often that happens, and published the result: does choosing a major narrow your college list?

What Liberal Arts graduates go on to do

Occupations the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk associates with Liberal Arts, ordered by projected annual openings. National figures: openings and pay do not vary by where you studied, and the crosswalk describes related fields rather than a required or guaranteed path.

Occupations associated with Liberal Arts, with median annual wage, projected annual openings, and the education most entrants hold.
OccupationMedian payOpenings / yrMost entrants hold
Postsecondary Teachers, All Other$78,49013,500Doctoral or professional degree

Crosswalk: U.S. Department of Education (NCES), CIP 2020 to SOC 2018. Pay and projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2024 wages, Employment Projections). “Most entrants hold” is what BLS observes about people already in the occupation, not a legal requirement, an admission rule, or a guarantee of entry. Projected openings are a projection, not jobs promised.

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