As a new school year begins and summer fades into memory, students are (mostly) hard at work earning their college degree.
Some may have just started their college career, others may be a few credits from finishing, but nearly all are there to graduate, get that diploma, and start earning a living in the real world. For most of us, though, our alma matter never really leaves us. We all like to think we went to the best school and got the best education, but that can’t be true for everyone, right?
Students in Texas are no different, and that got us curious, so we looked into the data to identify which colleges provide the best opportunity to earn a good income post-graduation without breaking the bank to get there. Put another way, students who graduate from these colleges earn the most money relative to what they paid to attend.
Our data comes straight out of the most recent College Scorecard release, which tracks everything from attendance figures and acceptance rate to student debt and more.
At the bottom we’ve included a full list, but first, here’s a quick look at the top 10 best value colleges in Texas:
- The University of Texas at Austin
- Texas Tech University
- The University of Texas at Dallas
- Texas A&M University-College Station
- The University of Texas of the Permian Basin
- University of Houston
- West Coast University-Dallas
- Chamberlain University-Texas
- The University of Texas at Arlington
- University of Houston-Clear Lakes
Leveraging the data from College Scorecard, we looked at three variables:
- The cost of attendance
- Earnings 6 years post-enrollment (early career)
- Earnings 10 years post-enrollment (established career)
From there, we limited our list to remove community colleges so we could focus specifically on primarily undergraduate institutions. Finally, we ranked the remaining 84 colleges on each attribute and averaged the three values to determine which ones had outcomes of strong career earnings in the short and long term without being prohibitively expensive.
When the dust had settled, The University of Texas at Austin held the title of the “Best Value College in Texas.”
The Best Value Colleges in Texas
| Rank | College | Cost of Attendance | Early Career Earnings | Established Career Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The University of Texas at Austin | $24,933 | $52,200 | $73,900 |
| 2 | Texas Tech University | $22,615 | $46,800 | $61,600 |
| 3 | The University of Texas at Dallas | $24,154 | $47,800 | $61,400 |
| 4 | Texas A&M University-College Station | $28,143 | $53,600 | $67,800 |
| 5 | The University of Texas of the Permian Basin | $18,123 | $44,800 | $52,300 |
| 6 | University of Houston | $24,678 | $47,100 | $60,600 |
| 7 | West Coast University-Dallas | $33,959 | $71,900 | $67,700 |
| 8 | Chamberlain University-Texas | $33,018 | $69,800 | $60,400 |
| 9 | The University of Texas at Arlington | $21,154 | $43,700 | $54,000 |
| 10 | University of Houston-Clear Lake | $22,690 | $45,500 | $52,900 |
| 11 | University of Houston-Downtown | $17,017 | $42,500 | $49,300 |
| 12 | Texas Woman’s University | $17,539 | $42,800 | $49,100 |
| 13 | The University of Texas at Tyler | $20,118 | $42,900 | $50,500 |
| 14 | University of North Texas at Dallas | $14,944 | $39,300 | $49,300 |
| 15 | Midwestern State University | $18,028 | $42,400 | $47,000 |
| 16 | University of Houston-Victoria | $19,253 | $43,800 | $46,200 |
| 17 | Texas State University | $21,383 | $40,600 | $51,100 |
| 18 | Rice University | $60,518 | $68,300 | $91,600 |
| 19 | The University of Texas at San Antonio | $19,906 | $38,800 | $49,600 |
| 20 | Sam Houston State University | $20,791 | $39,300 | $49,700 |
| 21 | Texas A&M University-Kingsville | $21,006 | $39,500 | $49,300 |
| 22 | Parker University | $33,456 | $40,000 | $62,600 |
| 23 | Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi | $20,140 | $39,100 | $48,600 |
| 24 | LeTourneau University | $41,598 | $47,300 | $56,800 |
| 25 | University of North Texas | $21,907 | $39,300 | $49,300 |
| 26 | Trinity University | $54,714 | $48,900 | $68,000 |
| 27 | Southern Methodist University | $69,358 | $68,100 | $77,900 |
| 28 | West Texas As&M University | $20,067 | $39,300 | $46,700 |
| 29 | University of Phoenix-Texas | $20,251 | $34,200 | $54,900 |
| 30 | Tarleton State University | $20,078 | $38,200 | $47,700 |
| 31 | University of St Thomas | $42,587 | $42,400 | $59,600 |
| 32 | Texas A&M International University | $13,629 | $36,000 | $46,700 |
| 33 | Texas Christian University | $60,135 | $50,300 | $62,600 |
| 34 | Strayer University-Texas | $27,744 | $38,400 | $53,500 |
| 35 | Lamar University | $19,367 | $37,200 | $46,000 |
| 36 | Angelo State University | $18,789 | $36,100 | $46,300 |
| 37 | Wayland Baptist University | $27,788 | $41,300 | $47,200 |
| 38 | Baylor University | $59,063 | $46,600 | $58,400 |
| 39 | Stephen F Austin State University | $20,735 | $36,700 | $46,400 |
| 40 | Southwestern University | $52,553 | $41,500 | $63,400 |
| 41 | Dallas Baptist University | $37,754 | $42,900 | $49,200 |
| 42 | University of the Incarnate Word | $40,826 | $41,000 | $52,500 |
| 43 | The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley | $13,401 | $34,200 | $44,200 |
| 44 | Lubbock Christian University | $32,923 | $38,700 | $50,500 |
| 45 | The University of Texas at El Paso | $16,033 | $35,300 | $43,300 |
| 46 | Concordia University Texas | $42,123 | $41,200 | $51,300 |
| 47 | Houston Baptist University | $40,742 | $39,400 | $52,300 |
| 48 | St. Mary’s University | $40,087 | $38,900 | $52,000 |
| 49 | Hardin-Simmons University | $36,644 | $40,200 | $48,300 |
| 50 | College of Biblical Studies-Houston | $19,135 | $35,500 | $42,800 |
| 51 | Southwestern Adventist University | $31,012 | $39,000 | $47,100 |
| 52 | Saint Edward’s University | $54,598 | $41,200 | $55,700 |
| 53 | Texas Lutheran University | $40,085 | $38,600 | $51,100 |
| 54 | Texas A & M University-Commerce | $20,342 | $36,000 | $41,900 |
| 55 | DeVry University-Texas | $37,532 | $37,600 | $50,300 |
| 56 | University of Mary Hardin-Baylor | $38,470 | $38,600 | $48,700 |
| 57 | Sul Ross State University | $19,544 | $34,600 | $41,400 |
| 58 | Austin College | $51,703 | $39,900 | $52,800 |
| 59 | Texas A&M University-Texarkana | $18,509 | $34,800 | $39,200 |
| 60 | American InterContinental University-Houston | $22,472 | $33,200 | $45,200 |
| 61 | Abilene Christian University | $45,746 | $38,900 | $48,900 |
| 62 | Argosy University-Dallas | $26,462 | $34,100 | $45,700 |
| 63 | Prairie View A & M University | $22,444 | $34,300 | $40,700 |
| 64 | University of Dallas | $52,637 | $37,400 | $51,400 |
| 65 | Texas Wesleyan University | $39,601 | $38,200 | $44,400 |
| 66 | McMurry University | $39,110 | $36,200 | $46,400 |
| 67 | Dallas Christian College | $28,403 | $33,000 | $45,500 |
| 68 | Schreiner University | $36,243 | $35,400 | $44,300 |
| 69 | East Texas Baptist University | $36,134 | $34,800 | $43,600 |
| 70 | Our Lady of the Lake University | $37,121 | $35,500 | $42,500 |
| 71 | The Art Institute of Dallas | $26,496 | $32,500 | $40,200 |
| 72 | Arlington Baptist University | $20,471 | $26,500 | $38,000 |
| 73 | Paul Quinn College | $17,509 | $26,900 | $29,800 |
| 74 | South University-Austin | $29,067 | $32,500 | $40,200 |
| 75 | Texas Southern University | $24,089 | $30,300 | $37,600 |
| 76 | Howard Payne University | $37,627 | $34,000 | $40,500 |
| 77 | The Art Institute of Houston | $27,520 | $30,400 | $39,100 |
| 78 | The Art Institute of San Antonio | $28,091 | $30,400 | $39,100 |
| 79 | Texas College | $20,140 | $24,600 | $28,000 |
| 80 | The Art Institute of Austin | $29,528 | $30,400 | $39,100 |
| 81 | Huston-Tillotson University | $27,116 | $29,900 | $34,200 |
| 82 | Wiley College | $23,300 | $26,400 | $30,700 |
| 83 | Southwestern Assemblies of God University | $33,709 | $30,400 | $38,700 |
| 84 | Jarvis Christian College | $23,843 | $22,800 | $27,500 |
Sources
- College Scorecard. “Educational Outcome Data.” https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/. 12/2/2019.
