Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at St. Mary's University

Comparable engineering programs in Texas suggest starting salaries around $78,000 for St. Mary's electrical engineering graduates, which tracks closely with both state and national medians for this major. That's a solid baseline for an engineering degree, though it falls well short of what UT Austin ($97,000) and Rice ($97,000) graduates command in the same market. The estimated $26,000 in debt yields a manageable 0.33 debt-to-earnings ratio, meaning graduates would owe roughly four months of their first-year salary.

The challenge here is visibility. When a school's engineering program has too few graduates for the Department of Education to report actual outcomes, parents should wonder about program maturity and industry connections. St. Mary's serves a population where 42% receive Pell grants and the average SAT sits at 989—commendable access metrics—but engineering employers in San Antonio and Austin heavily recruit from established programs with track records. The gap between estimated earnings here and what UT or Texas A&M graduates earn ($83,000+) could represent differences in curriculum rigor, co-op opportunities, or employer perception.

If your child has admission options at larger Texas engineering programs with reported outcomes, those provide more certainty about job placement and starting compensation. St. Mary's may offer smaller classes and personalized attention, but you're betting on a program without public evidence of graduate success in a field where the school's name and network matter considerably.