College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Baylor University

TXLarge private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #888 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Baylor University #888 nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Business and Health Professions dominate the degree mix at Baylor University, a private nonprofit university in Waco, Texas. Return is above average, while affordability is below the levels seen at many peers.

Graduates earn less than predicts for students like them. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures adds, while the part it attributes to a remainder it cannot explain subtracts.

Pell recipients complete at a rate below that of the entering cohort as a whole. Families in the lowest income band pay well below the published cost; those in the highest band pay much more.

The admission rate sits above the median for comparable institutions. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones.

Baylor at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
51.3%
Six-year completion[2]
80.0%
Four-year earnings[3]
$69,608

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$33,902
Median student debt[4]
$23,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$50,786

Baylor rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Baylor University is a private nonprofit university in Waco, Texas, enrolling 14,785 undergraduates. Its composite standing is in the middle of the field among the 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions Azimuth ranks.

The university admits 51.3% of applicants, a rate that is more selective than the 47.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Once enrolled, students tend to stay: 91.0% return for a second year, above the peer median of 90.1%.

80.0% finish within six years, above the peer median of 80.0%. An estimated 9.3% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the six-year rate describes a student body that mostly started here.

The four sit far apart. Return is the strongest, at the 70th percentile, while affordability is the weakest, at the 4th percentile.

Access and mobility sit between them, at the 63rd and 58th percentiles respectively.

Azimuth evaluates Baylor University across four pillars among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The strongest is return, in the 70th percentile, while affordability is the weakest, in the 4th percentile.

The access pillar sits in the 63rd percentile and mobility in the 58th percentile. Return is above the median, affordability is very low, and the composite rank is #888.

Federal Pell Grants reach 12.4% of undergraduates at Baylor University, a measure of financial access to the university. For Pell recipients in the first-time full-time cohort, the six-year completion rate is 69.7%, which sits below the overall rate (80.0%) by 10.3 percentage points.

Azimuth ranks the university #545 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Azimuth ranks Baylor University #618 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Baylor rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#888
Texas#57
South#298

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 58
Access & reach
National percentile: 63
Affordability
National percentile: 4
Return on investment
National percentile: 70

01 / Baylor briefing

Baylor cost & financial aid[6][7]

Baylor University publishes a cost of attendance of $74,226, with tuition and fees at $58,100 and room and board at $15,314. After grants and scholarships, the average net price for aid recipients is $41,104 — a savings of $33,122 against the published total.

Aid covers about 45% of the sticker cost for the average aid recipient. That sits above the peer median of $36,211 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $4,893.

Affordability is the university's weakest pillar: Azimuth ranks Baylor #1,361 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions. A high sticker price and an above-peer net price point the same way, though aid brings the cost down meaningfully for those who qualify.

The published cost of attendance at Baylor University is $74,226. Azimuth ranks the university #1,361 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

After grants and scholarships, aid recipients in the lowest family-income band (under $30,000) average $22,024, those in the middle band ($48,001–$75,000) average $33,902, and those in the highest band (over $110,000) average $47,895. The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $25,871.

Aid covers about 45% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. The average net price across all aid recipients is $41,104, which is $4,893 above the $36,211 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrowers who finish carry a median of $23,000 in federal student loans, $168 below the $23,168 peer median. 91.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $50,786 in Parent PLUS loans. If repaid over ten years, the median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $261 a month.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$33,902

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Baylor

At Baylor University, 91.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans, while completers who borrowed have median federal student loan debt of $23,000. The peer median, the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size), is $23,168, with Baylor’s median $168 below it.

For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $50,786. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 42% of graduates borrowed from any source, with average cumulative borrowing of $57,257 per borrower.

That group included 39% of graduates with federal loans averaging $22,433. It also included 15% of graduates with private loans averaging $81,009.

Baylor University graduates earn a median of $69,608 four years after completion, a figure in the 75th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 34th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios, derived from the university's program mix, show a typical outcome of $69,608, with a downside scenario of $51,772 and an upside scenario of $99,582. The median federal debt at completion is $23,000, which is below the $23,168 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $261 a month if repaid over ten years. Median earnings sit below the $83,615 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $14,007.

Graduates earn less than the model expects, while the median federal debt is below the peer median.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $50,786. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $261.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$23,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$50,786

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$261/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$645/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Baylor briefing

Baylor career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Baylor University graduates earn a median of $69,608 four years after completion, placing the university in the 75th percentile nationally. That figure is below the peer median of $83,615—the middle value for comparable institutions (same type and size)—by $14,007.

Azimuth ranks the return pillar in the 70th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 34th percentile.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,008. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $14,557. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $987.

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $69,608 at Baylor University. Azimuth places that figure in the 75th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, based on an earnings cohort of 3,203 completers.

Graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students. That places the gap at the 34th percentile.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix put the downside at $51,772 and the upside at $99,582. An estimated 29.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Four years after completing a degree at Baylor University, graduates earn a median of $69,608, which places the university in the 75th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure sits below the peer median of $83,615 for comparable institutions (same type and size), by $14,007.

Graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 34th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $9,008.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $14,557. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $987.

Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a typical outcome of $69,608, a downside of $51,772, and an upside of $99,582. Azimuth ranks the university #445 for return on investment among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The program-level picture is split between a large health and sciences core and a set of higher-earning business fields. The largest program, Nursing, awarded 317 degrees and shows median earnings of $89,510 four years after completion, which is above the university-wide median.

Biology follows with 246 degrees awarded and median earnings of $57,155, below the university-wide median. On the higher-earning side, Business/Commerce (60 degrees awarded) reaches $124,434, which is 1.82x the national median for the field, and Finance (181 degrees awarded) reaches $102,812, or 1.23x the national median.

The return picture is mixed: a handful of business programs clear six figures, while the two largest programs straddle the university-wide median.

Earnings scenarios range from $51,772 on the downside to $99,582 on the upside, a spread that shows the variation in the university's program mix. At the higher end, Computer Science graduates earn a median of $128,411 four years after completion, from 18 degrees awarded a year.

General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations follows at $125,167, and Business/Commerce comes in at $124,434.

Graduates of Baylor University earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students. The median federal student debt for borrowers who complete a degree is $23,000, which runs below the median of $23,168 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

If repaid over ten years, that debt would mean a monthly payment of $261. The average net price for aid recipients—what families pay after grants and scholarships—is $41,104, which is above the peer median of $36,211 by $4,893.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $50,786. The return picture is mixed: earnings run below the peer median and below the model's expectation.

Yet the debt load is modest relative to peers and the monthly payment is manageable. The net price, however, sits above the peer median, which means the upfront cost can be steep even as the debt at graduation stays contained.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$9,008
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$14,557
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
-$5,549

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Baylor briefing

Baylor acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Baylor University admits 51.3% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 47.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
51.3%
25th percentile
1190
Median
1280
75th percentile
1370

CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Baylor briefing

What are the largest majors at Baylor?[12]

The highest-earning programs at Baylor University are concentrated in business and computing. Computer Science leads at a median of $128,411 four years after completion, though it awarded only 18 degrees.

Business/Commerce and General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations follow at $124,434 and $125,167, respectively, with 60 and 28 degrees awarded. Among the university's largest programs, earnings vary by field.

Finance, with 181 degrees awarded, shows a median of $102,812. Nursing reaches $89,510 on 317 degrees.

Biology and Communication and Media Studies sit lower, at $57,155 and $58,915, reflecting the spread between higher-earning business and health fields and more moderate-earning sciences and communication.

Baylor publishes earnings data for 47 bachelor's programs. The five largest by degrees awarded show a wide earnings spread four years after completion: Nursing (317 degrees awarded, median $89,510), Biology (246 degrees, $57,155), Marketing (188 degrees, $78,398), Finance (181 degrees, $102,812), and Communication and Media Studies (176 degrees, $58,915).

The highest-earning programs reach well into six figures. Computer Science leads at $128,411 with 18 degrees awarded.

Next come General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations at $125,167 and Business/Commerce at $124,434. Finance, also among the largest programs, reports $102,812, and Accounting rounds out the top five at $102,011.

Baylor University awards bachelor's degrees across 47 programs with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Business, which accounts for 30.9% of degrees awarded, followed by Health Professions at 17.2% and Biological Sciences at 10.4%.

The largest single program is Nursing, at 317 degrees awarded, with Biology next at 246 and Marketing at 188. The highest-earning programs are concentrated in business and computing.

Computer Science graduates report the top median, at $128,411 four years after completion, though the program awards only 18 degrees a year. General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations follows at $125,167, which is 1.66x the national median for its field, from 28 degrees awarded.

Finance, the fourth-largest program with 181 degrees awarded, earns a median of $102,812. Accounting rounds out the top earners at $102,011 from 148 degrees a year. Across all fields, 16.0% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 317 degrees awarded
$89,510
Biology, General 246 degrees awarded
$57,155
Marketing 188 degrees awarded
$78,398
Finance and Financial Management Services 181 degrees awarded
$102,812
Communication and Media Studies 176 degrees awarded
$58,915
Business Administration, Management and Operations 157 degrees awarded
$85,961

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Baylor briefing

How does Baylor serve students from different backgrounds?

At Baylor University, the first-time full-time cohort graduates at a rate of 80.0% within six years, while Pell recipients in that same cohort complete at 69.7% — a figure that trails the overall rate by 10.3 percentage points. Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 58th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

On the earnings side, graduates earn about $5,549 less than the model expects for similar students, a result that lands in the 34th percentile nationally. So the mobility picture is mixed: a strong overall graduation rate sits alongside a Pell completion gap and earnings that come in below the model's expectation.

Baylor University, a private nonprofit university in Waco, Texas, enrolls 14,785 undergraduates. The university admits 51.3% of applicants, a rate that sits well below the peer median of 47.1% for institutions of its size and control.

Pell Grant recipients, a measure of financial access, account for 12.4% of the undergraduate body, and an estimated 9.3% of students enter as transfers or part-time students. Azimuth places the access pillar in the 63rd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Baylor briefing

What colleges are similar to Baylor?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Baylor.

Admissions peerTexas Christian University44.5% admitted
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorTexas Christian University
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$76,188+$6,580 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$36,660-$4,444 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%44.5%
Explore Texas Christian University →
Higher-admission alternativeCriswell College100.0% admitted
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorCriswell College
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$66,210-$3,398 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$21,630-$19,474 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%100.0%
Nearby alternativeTexas Christian UniversityNearby option · TX
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorTexas Christian University
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$76,188+$6,580 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$36,660-$4,444 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%44.5%
Explore Texas Christian University →
Higher-earnings alternativeBentley University$108,577 earnings
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorBentley University
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$108,577+$38,969 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$37,930-$3,174 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%45.1%
Explore Bentley University →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of North Texas at Dallas$6,420 average net price
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorUniversity of North Texas at Dallas
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$62,574-$7,034 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$6,420-$34,684 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%84.5%
Explore University of North Texas at Dallas →
Similar profileTexas Christian UniversityMatched across several measures
Comparison with Baylor
MeasureBaylorTexas Christian University
Peer earnings · 4 years$69,608$76,188+$6,580 vs Baylor
Average annual net price$41,104$36,660-$4,444 vs Baylor · lower cost
Admission rate51.3%44.5%
Explore Texas Christian University →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance is 150% of the federal poverty guideline for one person, for the year the API serves. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. The parent table is the 10-year payment on the median Parent PLUS as a share of household income above 200% of the guideline for a household of three: under 6% Safe, 6–10% Caution, over 10% High pressure. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings