US College Programs

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

  • 6 programs report first-year pay
  • 6 also report federal debt
  • Bachelor's in Physics

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas physics bachelor's program pays its graduates $39,285 in their first year, $9,090 less than the national median. Texas Tech reports the highest first-year pay ($57,435), and Texas A&M the lowest median debt ($17,522).

Median first-year pay$39,285National $48,374
Median pay after 5 years$92,183National $80,500
Median federal debt$23,500National $23,000
Debt-to-earnings56%National 49%

All 6 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.

3 more programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas physics 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 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

  1. Texas Tech$57,435
  2. Texas A&M$53,329
  3. Texas State$41,737
  4. UT Austin$36,832
  5. UTSA$36,328

Lowest median debt

  1. Texas A&M$17,522
  2. UT Austin$20,333
  3. UT Arlington$22,314
  4. Texas State$23,500
  5. Texas Tech$25,000

Lowest debt for the pay

  1. Texas A&M33%
  2. Texas Tech44%
  3. UT Austin55%
  4. Texas State56%
  5. UT Arlington64%

"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 physics, 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

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

Physicists

$184,040

Median pay in Texas. 580 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,300 openings a year. Typical education to start: doctoral or professional degree.

Bottom 10%: $69,960Top 10%: $289,950

Common questions

Texas Tech in Lubbock reports the highest median first-year pay, $57,435. Its median federal debt is $25,000.

Related pages

Physics (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked67 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 physics 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

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