Top Ranked Programs
Stephen F Austin State University's program mix is anchored in Business, with meaningful enrollment across health, education, and applied-professional fields — a signature consistent with a regional public university serving East Texas. Interdisciplinary Studies is the largest program by graduate count, followed by Kinesiology, Nursing, Business/Commerce, General, and Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, General. The mix reflects Stephen F Austin State University's identity as a broad-access institution where students pursue careers in business, healthcare, education, and public service — fields with stable regional demand in the East Texas labor market. The strongest earnings outcomes at Stephen F Austin State University are concentrated in applied-professional and technical fields. Nursing leads with median earnings of $84,107 four years after enrollment, and Azimuth ranks the program #212 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions. Business/Commerce, General follows with median earnings of $61,686, with Azimuth ranking it #36 for median earnings four years after enrollment among nonprofit four-year institutions — a strong result for a program of its scale. Communication Disorders Sciences and Services and Kinesiology round out the higher-earning cluster, each posting median earnings of $61,476 and $55,250 respectively four years after enrollment, per the [program-ranking methodology](/analysis/college-program-rankings-how-to-actually-evaluate-programs/). The highest-aggregate-return program — Interdisciplinary Studies — combines meaningful cohort scale with solid earnings, making it the single largest contributor to the institution's overall earnings profile. Several of the top-earning programs, including fields in health and applied business, are high-mobility direct-to-workforce pathways where four-year earnings reflect actual labor-market entry. Education-adjacent programs, by contrast, tend toward local-labor outcomes where graduates enter regional school districts and public agencies — fields with lower starting salaries but stable long-run demand. The [supply and demand for college graduates](/analysis/supply-demand-map-college-degrees/) provides context for how these program families align with broader national labor-market trends.