Arts, Entertainment,and Media Management at The University of Texas at El Paso

The earnings data here is genuinely alarming—$16,023 one year out barely exceeds poverty wages, and ranks near the bottom nationally and within Texas. Even accounting for the small sample size (which means a few outliers could skew results), this falls dramatically short of the state median of $25,157 for this program. At other Texas schools like Dallas Baptist University, arts management graduates earn more than double this figure.

The debt load compounds the problem. Owing $24,000 when you're earning $16,000 creates an immediate financial crisis—that's a 1.50 debt-to-earnings ratio when anything above 1.0 signals trouble. UTEP serves a predominantly Pell-eligible student body (61%), meaning many graduates are starting from limited family resources and counting on this degree to change their economic trajectory. These numbers suggest it's not delivering on that promise, at least not in the first year.

The small sample means you should verify these patterns through other sources—talk to recent alumni, check LinkedIn profiles, contact the department directly about placement rates. If these numbers reflect reality rather than statistical noise, this program would be hard to justify even with in-state tuition advantages. Arts management can lead to viable careers, but graduates typically need to clear $25,000+ in year one to manage their debt, and this program isn't achieving that threshold.