Texas State Microbiology (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Microbiological Sciences and Immunology
- Public university
- San Marcos, TX
- About 39 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Texas State microbiology graduates earn about what microbiology graduates earn nationally, $37,663 in their first year. Debt is high. The typical graduate leaves with $25,000 in federal loans, more than at 81% of microbiology programs in the country. One other Texas program reports 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 microbiology bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Texas State graduates earn less than the national figure and about the same as the Texas median.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas microbiology 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 65% between the first and fifth year.
Year 1 and year 5 figures come from different graduating classes, so the growth rate is an estimate.
Does family income change the outcome?
Graduates who received Pell Grants, which go to students from lower-income families, earned about the same in their first year as other graduates. At this program, the outcome does not look worse for students with less money.
Paying back the loans
On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $265 a month, or 8.4% of a graduate's typical monthly pay in the first year.
The government publishes these as ranges to protect privacy. They were measured in 2018 to 2020, partly during the pandemic pause on federal loan payments, so the forbearance share may be higher than usual. Separately, 32 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $25,865.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
100% of graduates (64 of 64) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Austin area are about 2% below the national average, so a $37,663 salary here buys what about $38,406 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 microbiology, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Medical and Health Services Managers
$114,150Median pay in Texas. 58,420 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 24% from 2025 to 2035, with about 62,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
$80,470Median pay in Texas. 11,920 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 13% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.
Natural Sciences Managers
$129,960Median pay in Texas. 7,470 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.
Biological Technicians
$50,130Median pay in Texas. 2,730 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 9,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Texas State
Microbiology ranks 36th of 64 bachelor's programs at Texas State by first-year earnings. The top three are Construction Engineering Technology ($76,646), Electrical Engineering ($72,990), and Nursing ($72,861).
Other microbiology bachelor's programs near San Marcos
Common questions
The median graduate earns $37,663 one year after graduating and $62,154 five years after. The median across microbiology bachelor's programs in Texas is $27,445.
The median federal loan balance is $25,000, which ranks 5th lowest of 5 microbiology bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $265 a month over 10 years.
It depends on your other options. Debt equals 66% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 55%. Compare the cost with other Texas programs before deciding.
Most do. 100% (64 of 64) 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 microbiology 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