General Sales, Merchandising at Texas Tech University

A bachelor's degree in sales and merchandising typically leads to first-year earnings around $59,000 based on comparable Texas programs—a solid starting point that sits above the national median for this field. With estimated debt of $23,500, graduates would be looking at manageable monthly payments of roughly $260, which represents about 5% of pre-tax income. That's a reasonable burden that shouldn't derail other financial goals in your twenties.

The catch is visibility. Texas Tech isn't publishing actual outcomes for this program, likely because graduate numbers are small. Meanwhile, schools like Baylor and Texas A&M report significantly higher earnings for their sales grads—$84,000 and $66,000 respectively. That gap matters, though it's worth noting those programs may feed into different industries or corporate recruiting pipelines. The estimate here assumes Texas Tech graduates perform similarly to peers across the state, which may or may not hold for this specific program.

The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.40 suggests the fundamentals work financially, but you're operating with limited information about how Tech's particular graduates fare. Before committing, ask the department directly about placement rates, typical employers, and whether graduates land in corporate sales training programs or retail management. The numbers suggest viability, but you'll want concrete evidence that this program delivers on that promise.