Which UAB major has the lowest debt?

Nursing graduates leave with a median of $21,911 in federal loans, the lowest among 30 UAB bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does UAB cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $9,098 a year, and $22,562 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $18,749 a year.

How many UAB programs report graduate pay?

31 bachelor's programs at UAB report first-year pay, and 30 of them also report federal debt.

UAB Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

University of Alabama at Birmingham
Public university
Birmingham, AL
11,635 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

31 UAB bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Electrical Engineering pays the most in the first year ($76,151), and Theatre the least ($26,670). The median program pays $40,285.

In-state tuition and fees$9,098Per year. Out-of-state $22,562

Average net price after aid$18,749Per year

Graduation rate64%Within 6 years

Admission rate88%Of applicants

All 31 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Alabama" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Alabama. 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 Alabama
1	Electrical EngineeringAbout 37 graduates a year	$76,151	$99,457	$27,000	6th of 7
2	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 87 graduates a year	$69,633	$101,625	$24,000	5th of 12
3	Materials EngineeringAbout 14 graduates a year	$69,498	$88,034	Not reported	1st of 1
4	NursingAbout 363 graduates a year	$65,173	$84,228	$21,911	9th of 12
5	Civil EngineeringAbout 37 graduates a year	$62,283	$84,553	$26,596	4th of 5
6	Mechanical EngineeringAbout 35 graduates a year	$58,191	$87,901	$26,354	7th of 7
7	Management Information SystemsAbout 59 graduates a year	$57,778	$74,931	$27,901	2nd of 4
8	AccountingAbout 127 graduates a year	$51,640	$63,551	$34,288	3rd of 12
9	FinanceAbout 94 graduates a year	$50,939	$71,298	$22,500	5th of 9
10	MathematicsAbout 15 graduates a year	$46,130	$52,520	$25,350	2nd of 4
11	Business AdministrationAbout 134 graduates a year	$45,761	$62,800	$26,625	6th of 18
12	Human ResourcesAbout 44 graduates a year	$45,343	Not reported	$27,000	2nd of 4
13	Teacher EducationAbout 61 graduates a year	$42,981	$47,772	$31,000	3rd of 13
14	Biomedical EngineeringAbout 51 graduates a year	$42,570	$85,321	$22,676	1st of 1
15	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 97 graduates a year	$40,968	$50,137	$28,500	2nd of 5
16	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 93 graduates a year	$40,285	$58,386	$28,460	3rd of 3
17	MarketingAbout 98 graduates a year	$39,348	$62,426	$26,750	6th of 9
18	Social WorkAbout 39 graduates a year	$35,750	$45,369	$30,000	2nd of 8
19	Political ScienceAbout 40 graduates a year	$34,474	Not reported	$23,250	2nd of 5
20	Criminal JusticeAbout 91 graduates a year	$34,459	$48,974	$27,307	6th of 11
21	ChemistryAbout 60 graduates a year	$33,931	$59,510	$26,000	2nd of 2
22	CommunicationsAbout 79 graduates a year	$33,190	$39,661	$26,000	5th of 10
23	EnglishAbout 44 graduates a year	$32,324	$36,019	$24,946	5th of 8
24	Public HealthAbout 110 graduates a year	$32,187	$49,049	$25,000	2nd of 2
25	Subject-Area Teacher EducationAbout 127 graduates a year	$32,093	$47,189	$24,573	3rd of 5
26	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 56 graduates a year	$30,809	$41,015	$25,000	3rd of 9
27	PsychologyAbout 251 graduates a year	$30,132	$44,287	$27,000	4th of 14
28	SociologyAbout 22 graduates a year	$28,137	$38,987	$28,979	3rd of 4
29	BiologyAbout 236 graduates a year	$28,127	$55,561	$25,000	11th of 14
30	HistoryAbout 45 graduates a year	$28,121	$47,929	$28,175	6th of 8
31	TheatreAbout 26 graduates a year	$26,670	Not reported	$25,250	1st of 4

Program names link to the program's own page, and Alabama 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 Alabama 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

Electrical Engineering$76,151
Computer and Information Science$69,633
Materials Engineering$69,498
Nursing$65,173
Civil Engineering$62,283

Lowest median debt

Nursing$21,911
Finance$22,500
Biomedical Engineering$22,676
Political Science$23,250
Computer and Information Science$24,000

Largest programs

NursingAbout 363 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 251 graduates a year
BiologyAbout 236 graduates a year
Business AdministrationAbout 134 graduates a year
AccountingAbout 127 graduates a year

Common questions

Electrical Engineering graduates earn a median of $76,151 in their first year, the most of 31 UAB 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 Alabama 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