Which Southern University major has the lowest debt?

Agriculture graduates leave with a median of $28,250 in federal loans, the lowest among 16 Southern University bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does Southern University cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $9,922 a year, and $17,272 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $20,077 a year.

How many Southern University programs report graduate pay?

16 bachelor's programs at Southern University report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

Southern University Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

Southern University and A & M College
Public university
Baton Rouge, LA
5,519 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

16 Southern University bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Nursing pays the most in the first year ($79,871), and Communication Sciences and Disorders the least ($25,281). The median program pays $36,975.

In-state tuition and fees$9,922Per year. Out-of-state $17,272

Average net price after aid$20,077Per year

Graduation rate27%Within 6 years

Admission rate35%Of applicants

All 16 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Louisiana" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Louisiana. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Louisiana
1	NursingAbout 80 graduates a year	$79,871	$81,687	$39,678	5th of 13
2	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 19 graduates a year	$75,001	$88,564	$29,500	2nd of 5
3	Civil EngineeringAbout 12 graduates a year	$60,219	Not reported	$32,162	5th of 5
4	Computer ScienceAbout 16 graduates a year	$45,907	Not reported	$30,250	9th of 9
5	AccountingAbout 12 graduates a year	$42,524	$53,349	$30,750	8th of 11
6	MarketingAbout 15 graduates a year	$40,750	$24,990	$29,750	3rd of 11
7	Business AdministrationAbout 30 graduates a year	$37,911	$51,573	$31,000	11th of 16
8	Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 40 graduates a year	$37,855	$38,700	$43,250	2nd of 7
9	BiologyAbout 19 graduates a year	$36,095	$45,773	$33,000	1st of 14
10	Criminal JusticeAbout 75 graduates a year	$32,499	$40,654	$31,000	7th of 10
11	PsychologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$31,165	$37,100	$35,000	4th of 15
12	AgricultureAbout 28 graduates a year	$30,865	Not reported	$28,250	2nd of 2
13	Rehabilitation and TherapyAbout 40 graduates a year	$30,636	$42,345	$38,000	1st of 1
14	Social WorkAbout 18 graduates a year	$29,703	$44,421	$32,634	2nd of 5
15	Family and Consumer SciencesAbout 14 graduates a year	$25,675	$42,923	$39,100	4th of 4
16	Communication Sciences and DisordersAbout 6 graduates a year	$25,281	Not reported	$37,250	2nd of 4

Program names link to the program's own page, and Louisiana ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Louisiana programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

3 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Agriculture$28,250
Mechanical Engineering$29,500
Marketing$29,750
Computer Science$30,250
Accounting$30,750

Largest programs

NursingAbout 80 graduates a year
Criminal JusticeAbout 75 graduates a year
Other Interdisciplinary StudiesAbout 40 graduates a year
Rehabilitation and TherapyAbout 40 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 37 graduates a year

Common questions

Nursing graduates earn a median of $79,871 in their first year, the most of 16 Southern University bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
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 Louisiana rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels