Which Texas chemistry program has the lowest debt?

UTRGV reports the lowest median federal debt, $10,500, with first-year pay of $22,913.

How much do chemistry graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 12 Texas chemistry bachelor's programs is $41,799 in the first year after graduating and $63,154 five years after.

How many chemistry bachelor's programs are in Texas?

12 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 11 of them also report federal debt.

Chemistry (Bachelor's) Programs in Texas, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

12 programs report first-year pay
11 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Chemistry

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas chemistry bachelor's program pays its graduates $41,799 in their first year, $406 less than the national median. University of Houston reports the highest first-year pay ($50,717), and UTRGV the lowest median debt ($10,500).

Median first-year pay$41,799National $42,204

Median pay after 5 years$63,154National $66,546

Median federal debt$21,993National $23,600

Debt-to-earnings51%National 55%

All 12 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	University of HoustonHouston · public	$50,717	$74,603	$12,000	24%
2	Texas A&MCollege Station · public	$49,462	$72,127	$19,500	39%
3	UT DallasRichardson · public	$48,783	Not reported	$20,747	43%
4	Sam Houston StateHuntsville · public	$43,940	$56,588	$28,775	65%
5	UT AustinAustin · public	$43,383	$66,779	$18,500	43%
6	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$42,897	Not reported	$27,500	64%
7	UTSASan Antonio · public	$40,700	$59,543	$20,835	51%
8	UH-DowntownHouston · public	$38,954	$54,946	Not reported	Not reported
9	SMUDallas · private nonprofit	$38,919	Not reported	$23,250	60%
10	UNTDenton · public	$38,006	$58,789	$23,151	61%
11	Texas TechLubbock · public	$31,573	$68,194	$27,243	86%
12	UTRGVEdinburg · public	$22,913	$63,154	$10,500	46%

UH-Downtown reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas chemistry 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 the 11 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UTRGV$10,500
University of Houston$12,000
UT Austin$18,500
Texas A&M$19,500
UT Dallas$20,747

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to chemistry, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$63,590

Median pay in Texas. 111,660 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $50,410Top 10%: $78,020

Data Scientists

$122,090

Median pay in Texas. 25,860 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $64,540Top 10%: $170,780

Natural Sciences Managers

$129,960

Median 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.

Bottom 10%: $74,200Top 10%: $213,280

Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health

$92,000

Median pay in Texas. 5,630 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $60,080Top 10%: $163,110

Common questions

University of Houston in Houston reports the highest median first-year pay, $50,717. Its median federal debt is $12,000.

Chemistry (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked189 programs by pay and debt

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.
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 rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the chemistry bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

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
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024