Engineering-Related Fields at St. Mary's University

With estimated debt of $27,000 against first-year earnings around $69,000, this engineering-related degree appears financially viable on paper. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.39 is manageable—you're looking at debt equal to roughly five months of gross salary. Based on comparable programs nationally, these earnings figures align with the median for engineering-related bachelor's degrees, suggesting St. Mary's graduates would enter the workforce at competitive starting points.

The challenge here is that both the earnings and debt figures come from peer programs, not St. Mary's actual outcomes. With an 89% admission rate and below-average SAT scores (989), the university serves a different student population than many engineering programs. Whether that translates to stronger support systems or weaker job placement networks is impossible to determine without actual graduate data. The high Pell grant percentage (42%) tells you this school serves economically diverse students, but you can't know if they're achieving those estimated $69,000 salaries.

What you can bank on: engineering-related fields generally offer solid return on investment, and $27,000 in debt is far from catastrophic. What remains uncertain: whether this specific program delivers on that promise. If your child has admission offers from Texas engineering programs with actual outcome data, compare those directly before committing here.