Which Texas writing and rhetoric program has the lowest debt?

UT Arlington reports the lowest median federal debt, $17,417, with first-year pay of $37,883.

How much do writing and rhetoric graduates earn in Texas?

The median across 7 Texas writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs is $37,883 in the first year after graduating and $56,520 five years after.

How many writing and rhetoric bachelor's programs are in Texas?

7 Texas programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 7 of them also report federal debt.

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

7 programs report first-year pay
7 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Texas writing and rhetoric bachelor's program pays its graduates $37,883 in their first year, $9,453 more than the national median. UNT reports the highest first-year pay ($45,015), and UT Arlington the lowest median debt ($17,417).

Median first-year pay$37,883National $28,430

Median pay after 5 years$56,520National $47,988

Median federal debt$21,412National $25,000

Debt-to-earnings55%National 82%

All 7 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	UNTDenton · public	$45,015	$56,151	$19,424	43%
2	Texas TechLubbock · public	$39,943	$58,424	$21,500	54%
3	UT AustinAustin · public	$38,713	$61,896	$21,323	55%
4	UT ArlingtonArlington · public	$37,883	$66,592	$17,417	46%
5	Texas StateSan Marcos · public	$37,548	$56,889	$21,765	58%
6	Saint Edward's UniversityAustin · private nonprofit	$31,518	Not reported	$26,000	82%
7	Stephen F. AustinNacogdoches · public	$25,292	$39,004	$21,726	86%

One more program reports debt but not pay, so it isn't listed.

Debt and first-year pay at every Texas writing and rhetoric 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 7 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

UNT$45,015
Texas Tech$39,943
UT Austin$38,713
UT Arlington$37,883
Texas State$37,548

Lowest median debt

UT Arlington$17,417
UNT$19,424
UT Austin$21,323
Texas Tech$21,500
Stephen F. Austin$21,726

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 writing and rhetoric, 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

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

Technical Writers

$82,750

Median pay in Texas. 3,340 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 3,200 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree, plus less than 5 years of related work experience.

Bottom 10%: $50,590Top 10%: $127,920

Proofreaders and Copy Markers

$41,990

Median pay in Texas. 200 people work in this job in Texas. Nationally, jobs are projected to shrink 1% from 2025 to 2035, with about 1,100 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $32,010Top 10%: $65,460

Common questions

UNT in Denton reports the highest median first-year pay, $45,015. Its median federal debt is $19,424.

Writing and Rhetoric (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked110 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 writing and rhetoric 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