Which Texas journalism program has the lowest debt?

SMU reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,448, with first-year pay of $40,502.

How much do journalism graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 9 Texas journalism bachelor's programs is $35,675 in the first year after graduating and $53,717 five years after.

How many journalism bachelor's programs are in Texas?

9 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 8 of them also report federal debt.

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

9 programs report first-year pay
8 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Journalism

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas journalism bachelor's program pays its graduates $35,675 in their first year, $1,160 more than the national median. SMU reports the highest first-year pay ($40,502), and SMU the lowest median debt ($19,448).

Median first-year pay$35,675National $34,515

Median pay after 5 years$53,717National $53,282

Median federal debt$21,500National $24,500

Debt-to-earnings61%National 67%

All 9 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	SMUDallas · private nonprofit	$40,502	$67,878	$19,448	48%
2	UT AustinAustin · public	$39,336	$61,070	$21,500	55%
3	UNTDenton · public	$38,118	$53,717	$19,877	52%
4	University of HoustonHouston · public	$36,226	$49,505	$21,500	59%
5	Baylor UniversityWaco · private nonprofit	$35,675	$61,982	$23,959	67%
6	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$33,255	$40,380	$20,847	63%
7	Angelo StateSan Angelo · public	$30,008	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
8	Texas TechLubbock · public	$29,622	Not reported	$23,250	78%
9	Texas Southern UniversityHouston · public	$18,301	$51,133	$34,750	190%

Angelo State reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas journalism 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 8 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

SMU$40,502
UT Austin$39,336
UNT$38,118
University of Houston$36,226
Baylor University$35,675

Lowest median debt

SMU$19,448
UNT$19,877
Texas State$20,847
UT Austin$21,500
University of Houston$21,500

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

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

Photographers

$41,280

Median pay in Texas. 4,330 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 10,700 openings a year. Typical education to start: high school diploma or equivalent.

Bottom 10%: $24,910Top 10%: $62,720

Writers and Authors

$69,990

Median pay in Texas. 2,320 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 11,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,070Top 10%: $125,240

News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists

$48,470

Median pay in Texas. 2,670 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 6% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,400 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $28,990Top 10%: $95,830

Common questions

SMU in Dallas reports the highest median first-year pay, $40,502. Its median federal debt is $19,448.

Journalism (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked170 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 journalism 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