A private R1 research university in Winston-Salem, NC, admitting 21.67% of applicants with a 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio.
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Wake Forest University is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, founded in 1834. It enrolls 5,485 undergraduates and 3,832 graduate students across the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the School of Divinity, the School of Law, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Social sciences, biology, business, and psychology account for the largest shares of bachelor's degrees.
Wake Forest holds a Doctoral University: Very High Research Activity (R1) Carnegie classification and is accredited through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Wake Forest is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Wake Forest adopted a test-optional admissions policy in 1983, among the earliest of any selective university in the country.
Official website: wfu.edu
UCD scores every college on four pillars: Outcomes, Value, Affordability, and Selectivity. Within peer group A (four-year selective institutions), Wake Forest scores 75.23 overall, rated Good. Outcomes (94.15) reflects an 89.15% six-year graduation rate and solid career outcomes. Value scores 51.31, driven by an average net price of $28,719 relative to ten-year earnings of $78,158. Affordability scores 10.38. All scores use verified federal data only.
Wake Forest admits 21.67% of applicants, placing it among the more accessible schools in this peer group while still highly selective relative to all four-year institutions. Wake Forest is test-optional; submitting SAT or ACT scores is not required. Students who submit scores typically average 1,475 on the SAT, with the middle 50% ACT range between 32 and 34.
Wake Forest uses the Common App with required supplemental essays. The Early Decision deadline is November 1 (binding); the Regular Decision deadline is January 1. Wake Forest's admissions review places emphasis on academic achievement, character, and demonstrated engagement outside the classroom.
Acceptance rate over the last five admission cycles. The trend tells you whether Wake Forest University is getting harder, easier, or staying about the same.
Wake Forest charges $67,642 in tuition plus $18,494 in room and board, bringing the estimated total cost of attendance to approximately $86,000 before aid. The average net price after all grants and scholarships is $28,719. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $6,525. For families earning between $30,001 and $48,000, the net price averages $6,331. For families earning between $75,001 and $110,000, the net price averages $12,771. For families earning above $110,000, it averages $58,081. Wake Forest's federal loan rate of 13.98% and median debt of $21,500 reflect loan-inclusive aid packages.
Published cost of attendance, the sticker price before grants and scholarships. Most students underestimate room & board and other expenses.
Application fee: $85 (one-time, due at submission)
Aid is need-based, so net price varies by family income. Here's what each bracket typically pays after grants and scholarships.
Cumulative federal-loan debt across the full borrowing distribution. The 10th and 90th percentiles bracket the typical range; the median sits in the middle.
Median federal-loan debt at graduation broken down by demographic. Each slice's size is proportional to the dollar amount that group typically borrows.
Wake Forest completes the large majority of the students it enrolls. The six-year graduation rate is 89.15% for full-time, first-time bachelor's-seeking students. The four-year rate is 88.35%, and first-year retention stands at 93.61%. The federal loan rate of 13.98% and median debt of $21,500 are moderate for a school at this selectivity level.
Wake Forest graduates earn above the national median for private research universities. Median earnings are $67,722 six years after first enrolling and $78,158 at ten years. At the ten-year mark, 89.72% of former students earn more than a typical high school graduate. The earnings figure reflects Wake Forest's program mix across social sciences, biology, business, and psychology, with significant graduate school pipelines in medicine, law, and business that affect the ten-year measurement window. Wake Forest School of Business graduates in finance, accounting, and consulting typically earn above the institutional median.
Median annual earnings 6, 8, and 10 years after students first enrolled.
Mean annual earnings 10 years after entry, segmented by demographic. Reveals gaps the headline median can't show.
Median earnings for female grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Median earnings for male grads ten years after first enrolling here.
Earnings of grads from the bottom-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the middle-third of family incomes at entry.
Earnings of grads from the top-third of family incomes at entry.
Share of completer-cohort borrowers paying down at least $1 of principal at the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 7-year mark. Climbing rates show graduates settling into careers and managing debt; flat or declining rates are a warning.
Wake Forest enrolls 5,485 undergraduates on its residential campus in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, a mid-sized city of approximately 250,000 in the Piedmont Triad region. White students account for 65.12% of undergraduates; Asian 5.27%, Hispanic 9.68%, and Black 6.44%. Ten percent of undergraduates receive Pell grants, and 11.97% are first-generation college students, both below the peer group average, reflecting Wake Forest's historically less economically diverse student body.
Winston-Salem is home to major employers in financial services (Truist Financial, one of the largest banks in the country, is headquartered here), healthcare, and manufacturing. Wake Forest competes in the ACC, and Demon Deacons athletics, particularly basketball and football, are central to campus culture.
Undergraduate student body composition reported to the US Department of Education.
Where students live, learn, and connect at Wake Forest University. The campus setting, housing profile, and signals that shape day-to-day life here.
Wake Forest University offers an extensive catalog of programs: 88 distinct programs across 23 majors. Below are its strongest majors, each with flagship programs and typical earnings. Open a major to explore it in depth, or browse the full program catalog.
Wake Forest operates at a 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio. 75.59% of instruction is delivered by full-time faculty. Instructional spending per full-time equivalent student is $35,708 per year. The endowment stands at $1.997 billion, smaller than most peer institutions, which constrains the depth of need-based aid Wake Forest can offer relative to schools with larger endowments. Wake Forest School of Business holds AACSB accreditation. Wake Forest School of Law is a respected law school and one of the university's most prominent graduate programs.
2,745 instructional faculty across 6 ranks. The rank mix shows how many senior faculty are teaching versus contingent or junior staff, with average salary equated to a 9-month contract.
| Rank | Faculty Count | Share | Avg Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full Professors | 658 | 24% | $155,116 |
| Associate Professors | 673 | 25% | $110,734 |
| Assistant Professors | 1,183 | 43% | $84,237 |
| Instructors | 122 | 4% | $65,655 |
| Lecturers | 41 | 1% | $77,570 |
| No Rank | 68 | 2% | $58,182 |
Wake Forest's defining strengths are its 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio, residential campus culture, ACC athletics, and a solid record of pre-law, pre-medicine, and business placement. The 21.67% admit rate makes Wake Forest one of the more accessible schools in this peer group, which matters for students who are strong candidates but not targets at the most selective institutions. UCD 75.23 Good.
The challenges: the endowment of $1.997B is the smallest in this batch, which limits financial aid depth; the average net price of $28,719 is high for a school in Winston-Salem rather than New York or Boston; the demographics are less diverse than most peer institutions; and ten-year earnings of $78,158 are below the peer group median. Best fit for students who value a smaller residential research university in the South with strong pre-professional programs, who find Wake Forest's 21.67% admit rate more accessible than hyper-selective alternatives, and who qualify for meaningful need-based aid.
The questions below address what students and families most commonly search about Wake Forest: how selective admissions are, what makes Winston-Salem distinctive, how financial aid works, and what graduates earn.
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