Which Texas theatre program has the lowest debt?

UTRGV reports the lowest median federal debt, $16,001, with first-year pay of $16,706.

How much do theatre graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 15 Texas theatre bachelor's programs is $25,050 in the first year after graduating and $40,282 five years after.

How many theatre bachelor's programs are in Texas?

15 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 14 of them also report federal debt.

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

15 programs report first-year pay
14 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas theatre bachelor's program pays its graduates $25,050 in their first year, $4,235 more than the national median. UT Austin reports the highest first-year pay ($33,261), and UTRGV the lowest median debt ($16,001).

Median first-year pay$25,050National $20,815

Median pay after 5 years$40,282National $34,512

Median federal debt$24,565National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings94%National 115%

All 15 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 AustinAustin · public	$33,261	Not reported	$26,000	78%
2	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches · public	$29,945	$43,334	$26,000	87%
3	Texas TechLubbock · public	$28,933	Not reported	$26,500	92%
4	UNTDenton · public	$28,236	$40,282	$25,000	89%
5	University of the Incarnate WordSan Antonio · private nonprofit	$27,295	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
6	UT ArlingtonArlington · public	$26,474	Not reported	$27,000	102%
7	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$26,045	$40,459	$21,500	83%
8	Texas A&M-Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi · public	$25,050	$36,799	$22,658	90%
9	West Texas A&M UniversityCanyon · public	$25,036	$40,814	$22,328	89%
10	SMUDallas · private nonprofit	$23,831	$34,577	$24,000	101%
11	Sam Houston StateHuntsville · public	$21,858	$42,548	$22,250	102%
12	TCUFort Worth · private nonprofit	$21,221	$36,422	$27,000	127%
13	Baylor UniversityWaco · private nonprofit	$20,267	$36,480	$24,130	119%
14	UTRGVEdinburg · public	$16,706	$28,318	$16,001	96%
15	Saint Edward's UniversityAustin · private nonprofit	$15,925	$44,767	$26,000	163%

University of the Incarnate Word reports pay but not debt, so it is ranked only by pay.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas theatre 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 14 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UT Austin$33,261
Stephen F. Austin$29,945
Texas Tech$28,933
UNT$28,236
University of the Incarnate Word$27,295

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

Producers and Directors

$71,710

Median pay in Texas. 6,610 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 12,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $40,610Top 10%: $146,340

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

Common questions

UT Austin in Austin reports the highest median first-year pay, $33,261. Its median federal debt is $26,000.

Theatre (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked257 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 theatre 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