Computer and Information Sciences at University of North Texas at Dallas

A debt load of roughly $23,000 for a computer science degree is manageable territory, particularly when weighed against starting salaries that similar Texas programs produce around $55,000. That debt-to-earnings ratio of 0.41 means graduates would owe less than half their first-year salary—well within the bounds of what makes financial sense for a tech degree. The challenge is that these figures come from peer institutions across Texas rather than UNT Dallas's own graduates, so there's inherent uncertainty about how this specific program performs.

The reality is stark when you look at what other Texas schools achieve. Rice graduates start above $131,000, UT Austin above $111,000, and even regional programs like Prairie View A&M hit nearly $78,000. UNT Dallas serves a different population—half its students qualify for Pell grants, and its 94% admission rate signals an access mission—but that $55,000 estimate still trails the national median of $61,000 for computer science bachelor's degrees. In a field where employer demand is strong and starting salaries vary widely by preparation quality, that gap matters.

For families weighing this option, the math works if the estimate holds: graduating with $23,000 in debt to enter a field paying mid-50s is defensible. But acknowledge you're making this decision with limited visibility into actual outcomes, and in a state where significantly stronger computer science programs exist at public universities with comparable tuition.