Which Texas communications program has the lowest debt?

UTRGV reports the lowest median federal debt, $11,956, with first-year pay of $26,748.

How much do communications graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 33 Texas communications bachelor's programs is $32,990 in the first year after graduating and $50,770 five years after.

How many communications bachelor's programs are in Texas?

33 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 32 of them also report federal debt.

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

33 programs report first-year pay
32 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas communications bachelor's program pays its graduates $32,990 in their first year, $1,584 less than the national median. UT Permian Basin reports the highest first-year pay ($46,203), and UTRGV the lowest median debt ($11,956).

Median first-year pay$32,990National $34,574

Median pay after 5 years$50,770National $52,771

Median federal debt$23,430National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings67%National 69%

All 33 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	UT Permian BasinOdessa · public	$46,203	$56,760	$22,852	49%
2	UT AustinAustin · public	$43,848	Not reported	$20,500	47%
3	Baylor UniversityWaco · private nonprofit	$43,740	$64,645	$23,860	55%
4	Texas A&MCollege Station · public	$43,295	$62,316	$17,782	41%
5	Concordia University TexasAustin · private nonprofit	$39,068	$49,486	$24,134	62%
6	University of HoustonHouston · public	$37,958	$60,207	$24,777	65%
7	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$37,386	$58,381	$24,250	65%
8	Dallas Baptist UniversityDallas · private nonprofit	$35,812	$49,972	$22,831	64%
9	Tarleton StateStephenville · public	$35,715	$47,472	$22,368	63%
10	Trinity UniversitySan Antonio · private nonprofit	$34,589	$55,952	$25,340	73%
11	UTSASan Antonio · public	$34,314	$50,189	$22,923	67%
12	University of Mary Hardin-BaylorBelton · private nonprofit	$34,282	Not reported	$23,000	67%
13	UH-DowntownHouston · public	$34,123	$51,762	$28,375	83%
14	Southwestern UniversityGeorgetown · private nonprofit	$34,050	$70,325	$26,000	76%
15	Texas TechLubbock · public	$34,028	$62,488	$25,000	73%
16	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches · public	$33,906	$43,348	$24,000	71%
17	UT ArlingtonArlington · public	$32,990	Not reported	$20,000	61%
18	Lamar UniversityBeaumont · public	$32,556	$47,748	$25,669	79%
19	Angelo StateSan Angelo · public	$32,220	$51,670	$21,369	66%
20	TCUFort Worth · private nonprofit	$32,123	$73,722	$21,500	67%
21	Texas A&M-San AntonioSan Antonio · public	$31,953	Not reported	$20,500	64%
22	Saint Edward's UniversityAustin · private nonprofit	$31,117	$54,095	$25,000	80%
23	UH-Clear LakeHouston · public	$28,566	$56,106	$19,829	69%
24	Sam Houston StateHuntsville · public	$28,247	$51,123	$26,000	92%
25	Texas A&M-Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi · public	$27,707	$39,862	$26,000	94%
26	UT TylerTyler · public	$27,586	$41,308	$15,021	54%
27	UTRGVEdinburg · public	$26,748	$48,282	$11,956	45%
28	Midwestern StateWichita Falls · public	$25,728	$43,292	$26,000	101%
29	UTEPEl Paso · public	$23,766	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
30	Texas A&M International UniversityLaredo · public	$22,430	$46,443	$17,100	76%
31	Prairie View A&M UniversityPrairie View · public	$22,269	$37,973	$29,750	134%
32	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville · public	$20,175	$41,962	$20,519	102%
33	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio · private nonprofit	$17,048	$39,408	$27,000	158%

UTEP reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay. 2 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas communications 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 32 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

UTRGV$11,956
UT Tyler$15,021
Texas A&M International University$17,100
Texas A&M$17,782
UH-Clear Lake$19,829

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 communications, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Public Relations Specialists

$65,160

Median pay in Texas. 25,220 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 2% from 2025 to 2035, with about 23,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,840Top 10%: $109,640

Fundraisers

$60,320

Median pay in Texas. 4,020 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $39,730Top 10%: $95,770

Editors

$45,950

Median pay in Texas. 6,460 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 7,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $29,040Top 10%: $105,440

Public Relations Managers

$126,670

Median pay in Texas. 8,190 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 6,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $78,400Top 10%: $220,000

Common questions

UT Permian Basin in Odessa reports the highest median first-year pay, $46,203. Its median federal debt is $22,852.

Communications (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked577 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 communications 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