Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Belmont Abbey College

Belmont Abbey's liberal arts graduates launch strong, earning $46,654 in their first year—nearly $13,000 above the national median and outpacing even UNC Chapel Hill's graduates in this field. Among North Carolina's 36 liberal arts programs, this ranks in the 80th percentile, which is impressive for a school with a 90% admission rate. However, with fewer than 30 graduates in this cohort, these numbers could shift significantly with different samples.

The concerning pattern emerges in year four, when median earnings drop to $41,133. This 12% decline is unusual and could reflect several factors: graduates pursuing service-oriented careers (the college has strong religious affiliation), some transitioning to graduate school, or simply statistical noise from the tiny sample size. The $33,291 debt load sits above both state and national medians, but the 0.71 debt-to-earnings ratio remains manageable given those strong initial salaries.

For families considering this program, the small cohort size is the crucial caveat—your child's experience could differ substantially from these medians. If the first-year earning power reflects reality (and it's competitive with major state universities), this could work well for students drawn to Abbey's mission-driven environment. But given the earnings volatility and limited data, treat these numbers as suggestive rather than predictive, and connect with recent alumni directly to gauge typical career paths.