UH-Downtown Business Administration (Bachelor's): Tuition, Graduate Salary, and Debt

  • Bachelor's in Business Administration, Management and Operations
  • Public university
  • Houston, TX
  • About 257 graduates a year

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

UH-Downtown business administration graduates earn more than graduates of most business administration programs nationally, $53,764 in their first year. The typical graduate leaves with $25,000 in federal loans, close to the national median of $26,000. It is one of the higher-paying business administration degrees in Texas.

First-year earnings$53,76479th percentile of 1,105 programs nationally
Earnings after 5 years$71,24133% more than year one
Median federal debt$25,00036th lowest of 62 Texas programs
Debt-to-earnings46%Texas median 53%, national 55%

How it compares

Each figure is the median for graduates of the program. The Texas and national columns are the medians across all business administration bachelor's programs that report the figure.

Five years out, UH-Downtown graduates earn more than the national figure and about $11,948 more than the Texas median.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas business administration program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Texas medians.

UH-DowntownOther Texas programs

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 33% between the first and fifth year.

UH-Downtown grads, year 1$53,764
UH-Downtown grads, year 5$71,241
All Texas business administration grads, year 5$59,293

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 $7,048 less in their first year than other graduates. They also borrowed more. Students who expect to rely on grants should weigh this gap.

Pell Grant recipients, year 1 earnings$53,441Median debt $25,700
Other graduates, year 1 earnings$60,489Median debt $18,498

Paying back the loans

On a standard 10-year plan, the median debt means a payment of about $265 a month, or 5.9% 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.

Where graduates work, and what the pay is worth

97% of graduates (222 of 229) were working in Texas one year after graduating. Prices in the Houston area are about 1% below the national average, so a $53,764 salary here buys what about $54,511 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 business administration, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

General and Operations Managers

$103,230

Median pay in Texas. 431,310 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $46,190Top 10%: $264,620

First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers

$64,940

Median pay in Texas. 160,600 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 127,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $43,320Top 10%: $103,540

First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers

$46,280

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $28,780Top 10%: $74,840

Project Management Specialists

$98,440

Median pay in Texas. 138,960 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $57,460Top 10%: $162,780

About UH-Downtown

Business Administration ranks 4th of 28 bachelor's programs at UH-Downtown by first-year earnings. The top three are Computer Engineering Technology ($68,144), Computer and Information Science ($56,475), and Accounting ($54,128).

Other business administration bachelor's programs near Houston

Common questions

The median graduate earns $53,764 one year after graduating and $71,241 five years after. The median across business administration bachelor's programs in Texas is $44,084.

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 business administration program.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
  2. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
  3. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
  4. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024

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