Sam Houston State Specialized Sales and Merchandising (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations
- Public university
- Huntsville, TX
- About 16 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Sam Houston State specialized sales and merchandising graduates earn about what specialized sales and merchandising graduates earn nationally, $32,444 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $27,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,850. Several Texas programs report higher pay.
How it compares
Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Sam Houston State graduates earn more than the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas specialized sales and merchandising program
Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas medians.
Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.
What graduates earn over time
Pay rises about 70% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $286 a month, or 10.6% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
95% of graduates (20 of 21) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the parts of Texas outside metro areas are about 12% below the national average, so a $32,444 salary here buys what about $36,937 buys in a typical US city.
Careers this field leads to
These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to specialized sales and merchandising, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
$65,970Median pay in Texas. 95,670 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 99,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.
First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers
$46,280Median pay in Texas. 103,410 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 113,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$72,520Median pay in Texas. 63,350 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Buyers and Purchasing Agents
$76,050Median pay in Texas. 44,030 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 47,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Sam Houston State
Specialized Sales and Merchandising ranks 34th of 42 bachelor's programs at Sam Houston State by first-year earnings. The top three are Nursing ($82,463), Construction Engineering Technology ($72,116), and Agricultural Mechanization ($63,369).
Common questions
The median graduate earns $32,444 one year after graduating and $55,164 five years after. The median across specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs in Texas is $35,993.
The median federal loan balance is $27,000, which ranks 7th lowest of 7 specialized sales and merchandising bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $286 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 83% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 72%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 95% (20 of 21) were working in Texas one year after graduating.
About this data
- Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid (grants or loans).
- Earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school. Graduates who went straight to further study are not included.
- Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
- Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Texas comparisons when their main campus is in another state.
- Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.
- School-level numbers like tuition, admission rate, and graduation rate are for the whole school, not the specialized sales and merchandising program.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
- NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024