How UNC System Graduates Connect to Manufacturing Careers

In recognition of Manufacturing Month, this article uses data from the Common Follow-up System (CFS) to examine two decades of trends in employment in the Manufacturing sector1 among bachelor’s degree graduates from UNC System institutions. The analysis follows three graduating cohorts (2003, 2013, 2023) to identify the bachelor’s degree programs with the highest share of graduates working in the Manufacturing sector two years after graduation. While the overall share of UNC System bachelor’s degree graduates employed in Manufacturing remained stable, the programs most connected to Manufacturing evolved over time.

Manufacturing Employment Among Graduates Remained Small but Stable

While Manufacturing’s share of total employment in the state fell from 16 percent in 2003 to 10 percent in 2023, the share of UNC System bachelor’s degree graduates employed in the sector was relatively stable. Four percent of the 2003 and 2023 cohorts of graduates were employed in the Manufacturing sector two years after graduation. 

Manufacturing employment among graduates also remained fairly stable as they progressed in their careers. Approximately four percent were working in the Manufacturing sector ten years after graduation. For the three cohorts with 20-year observations (2003, 2004, and 2005), the share was about three percent. 

Shifts in Manufacturing-Connected Programs Over Two Decades

For each cohort, the analysis highlights the five bachelor’s degree programs with the highest Manufacturing employment rates two years after graduation. Only programs with at least 40 graduates were included. The composition of the top five changed over the 20-year period, but one program consistently appeared in all three cohorts: Industrial Technology/Technician. It remained in the top five, suggesting a sustained connection between this field of study and Manufacturing employment. 

2003 Cohort: Engineering Programs Dominated Manufacturing Pathways

For the 2003 cohort, Industrial Technology/Technician had the highest two-year Manufacturing employment rate at 32 percent. Mechanical Engineering followed at 25 percent, while Industrial Engineering; Computer Engineering; and Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician also had comparatively high rates. North Carolina State University had the largest cohorts of Computer, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering graduates, while East Carolina had the largest Industrial Technology/Technician cohort. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University had the most Electrical, Electronic, and Communications Engineering Technology/Technician graduates.

Some programs maintained strong connections to the Manufacturing sector over the long term. Industrial Technology/Technician and Mechanical Engineering had the highest share employed twenty years after graduation, at 21 and 20 percent, respectively. 

Table 1

Average Wages2 and Employment Rates in the Manufacturing Sector, 2003 Cohort

2013 Cohort: Broader Engineering Fields Strengthened Their Manufacturing Connection

Among the leading programs in 2013, the two-year Manufacturing employment rates were generally higher than those observed among the leading programs in 2003. About half of graduates from Engineering, General (53 percent) and Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General (50 percent) were employed in Manufacturing two years after graduation. Chemical and Mechanical Engineering followed at 31 percent. North Carolina State University had the largest cohort of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering graduates, while East Carolina University had the largest cohorts of Industrial Technology/Technician and Engineering, General graduates. The Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General cohort graduated from Western Carolina University.

Manufacturing remained an important employment sector in year 10 for graduates of several programs. Engineering, General’s share was 35 percent, followed by Chemical Engineering’s at 29 percent and Mechanical Engineering’s at 25 percent. Data for Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General was suppressed.

Table 2

Average Wages3 and Employment Rates in the Manufacturing Sector, 2013 Cohort

* Data is suppressed

2023 Cohort: Smaller and Specialized Programs Led Manufacturing Employment

Programs with smaller cohorts of graduates were among the leading pathways into Manufacturing for the 2023 cohort. Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician was not among the 2003 top five but appeared prominently in the latest cohort. Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General had the highest two-year rate, with half of its graduates employed in Manufacturing. Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technician followed at 40 percent. East Carolina University graduated the largest cohorts of Manufacturing Engineering Technology/Technicians and Industrial Technology/Technicians. Appalachian State University had the largest cohort of Industrial & Product Design graduates, and the Engineering Technologies/Technicians, General cohort graduated from Western Carolina University.

Table 3

Average Wages4 and Employment Rates in the Manufacturing Sector, 2023 Cohort

Although some of the programs most closely associated with Manufacturing employment changed over time, engineering and industrial programs remained prominent pathways. Graduates came from a variety of UNC System institutions. Specialized applied programs such as Manufacturing Engineering Technology were among those with high Manufacturing employment rates in the 2023 cohort. 

Policymakers and workforce partners can use these findings to better understand educational pathways into Manufacturing and inform sector-based strategies, including those identified in the Strategies to Advance North Carolina’s Workforce Development Progress report. 

• 1

  Sector code 31

• 2

  All figures in constant 2025 dollars (CPI-adjusted)

• 3

  All figures in constant 2025 dollars (CPI-adjusted)

• 4

  All figures in constant 2025 dollars (CPI-adjusted)