Which Texas criminology program has the lowest debt?

UH-Clear Lake reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,149, with first-year pay of $35,673.

How much do criminology graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 5 Texas criminology bachelor's programs is $33,978 in the first year after graduating and $49,330 five years after.

How many criminology bachelor's programs are in Texas?

5 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 5 of them also report federal debt.

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

5 programs report first-year pay
5 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Criminology

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas criminology bachelor's program pays its graduates $33,978 in their first year, $3,498 less than the national median. UT Dallas reports the highest first-year pay ($40,603), and UH-Clear Lake the lowest median debt ($16,149).

Median first-year pay$33,978National $37,476

Median pay after 5 years$49,330National $54,271

Median federal debt$25,125National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings74%National 64%

All 5 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 DallasRichardson · public	$40,603	$52,937	$20,500	50%
2	UH-Clear LakeHouston · public	$35,673	$54,539	$16,149	45%
3	St. Mary's UniversitySan Antonio · private nonprofit	$33,978	$43,974	$25,125	74%
4	Saint Edward's UniversityAustin · private nonprofit	$31,839	Not reported	$25,500	80%
5	Texas A&M-KingsvilleKingsville · public	$30,490	$45,723	$25,750	84%

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas criminology 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 5 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

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

Sociologists

$106,030

Median pay nationwide. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 200 openings a year. Typical education to start: master's degree.

Common questions

UT Dallas in Richardson reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,603. Its median federal debt is $20,500.

Criminology (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked105 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 criminology 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