Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering at Texas State University

Texas State's electrical engineering graduates start at $72,990—about $5,000 below both the national and Texas medians for this field. Among the 27 Texas schools offering this program, it ranks at the 40th percentile, meaning six in ten programs produce stronger starting salaries. Compare this to UT Austin or Rice graduates who start around $97,000, or even University of Houston at $86,000, and the earnings gap becomes harder to ignore for a flagship engineering degree.

The positive story here is debt management: at $28,000, graduates carry slightly more than peers but maintain a healthy 0.38 debt-to-earnings ratio, ranking in the 6th percentile nationally (meaning 94% of programs saddle students with more debt relative to outcomes). Strong earnings growth of 23% over four years shows the degree does gain value, pushing mid-career earnings to nearly $90,000. For students choosing Texas State for its accessibility—89% admission rate and relatively affordable education—this creates a workable financial picture.

The tradeoff is clear: you're paying similar debt for meaningfully lower earnings than Texas's top-tier engineering programs. If your child can access UT Austin, Rice, or even University of Houston, those programs deliver substantially better returns. But if Texas State is the accessible option that gets your child into engineering, the combination of manageable debt and solid growth makes it viable—just recognize you're accepting below-average starting earnings in a field that typically pays well.