Civil Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio

UTSA's civil engineering program delivers exactly what anxious parents should want: graduates earning solid salaries with remarkably low debt. At under $28,000 borrowed, these students carry 43% less debt than the typical Texas civil engineering graduate and rank in the 5th percentile nationally—meaning 95% of comparable programs leave students with higher debt burdens.

The earnings tell a more nuanced story. Starting salaries of $68,000 trail the state's flagship programs by about $7,000, landing UTSA at the 60th percentile among Texas civil engineering schools. That's respectable for a school with an 88% admission rate and tuition advantages for many San Antonio families. Four years out, graduates see 9% wage growth to $74,000, essentially catching up to peers at UT Austin and A&M. The debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.41 means your child would owe less than half their starting salary—a manageable position that leaves room for saving and building financial stability.

The real calculation here is whether that $7,000 starting salary gap matters given UTSA's likely lower total cost of attendance, especially for local students. If your child can live at home and graduate with minimal debt while entering a stable profession, that's a stronger foundation than graduating from a higher-ranked program with $40,000+ in loans. Civil engineering credentials matter more than institutional prestige in this field anyway.