Texas State Radio, TV, and Digital Media (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt
- Bachelor's in Radio, Television, and Digital Communication
- Public university
- San Marcos, TX
- About 197 graduates a year
College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025
The short answer
Texas State radio, TV, and digital media graduates earn about what radio, TV, and digital media graduates earn nationally, $31,977 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $21,858 in federal loans, close to the national median of $24,250. 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 radio, TV, and digital media bachelor's programs that report the figure.
Five years out, Texas State graduates earn about the national figure but about $1,676 less than the Texas median. Several Texas programs with higher debt show higher pay by the five-year mark.
Debt and first-year pay at every Texas radio, TV, and digital media 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 46% 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 $232 a month, or 8.7% 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, 103 parents took out Parent PLUS loans for these students, with a median of $26,749.
Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth
90% of graduates (211 of 235) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Austin area are about 2% below the national average, so a $31,977 salary here buys what about $32,608 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 radio, TV, and digital media, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.
Producers and Directors
$71,710Median pay in Texas. 6,610 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.
Web and Digital Interface Designers
$102,650Median pay in Texas. 5,910 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 8,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists
$48,470Median pay in Texas. 2,670 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
Film and Video Editors
$61,220Median pay in Texas. 1,040 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.
About Texas State
Radio, TV, and Digital Media ranks 57th 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 radio, TV, and digital media bachelor's programs near San Marcos
Common questions
The median graduate earns $31,977 one year after graduating and $46,714 five years after. The median across radio, TV, and digital media bachelor's programs in Texas is $31,762.
The median federal loan balance is $21,858, which ranks 7th lowest of 14 radio, TV, and digital media bachelor's programs in Texas. That works out to about $232 a month over 10 years.
On the numbers, yes for most students. Debt equals 68% of first-year earnings, against a national median of 78%, and the share of borrowers in default two years into repayment is 10% or less. If the highest possible early salary is the main goal, several Texas programs report higher pay.
Most do. 90% (211 of 235) 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 radio, TV, and digital media 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