College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Texas A&M University-College Station

TXLarge public institution · Overall rank #25 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Texas A&M #25 nationally among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Texas A&M University-College Station is a public university in College Station, Texas, whose degree mix is led by Engineering and Business. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, so the four-year earnings picture is the one to weigh.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, and the model attributes part of the gain to the factors it measures, while the unexplained remainder subtracts from it. Return is well above average.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is among the highest we track. The net price for the lowest income band sits well below the published cost, while the highest band pays closer to it.

The admission rate is below the median for comparable schools, and the degree mix leans toward Engineering and Business. A student drawn to Biology should know that the largest department is not the best-paid one.

Texas A&M at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
57.4%
Six-year completion[2]
83.9%
Four-year earnings[3]
$76,234

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$17,435
Median student debt[4]
$17,804
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$32,258

Texas A&M rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Texas A&M University-College Station is a public university in College Station, Texas, enrolling 59,615 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (98th percentile).

The university admits 57.4% of applicants, a rate well below the 78.1% median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Of students who start full time, 94.3% return for a second year, against a peer median of 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate is 83.9%, compared with a peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 26.9% of entrants arrive as transfers or part-time students, so a significant part of the student body did not begin here.

The six-year graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and therefore describes a narrower group than the full undergraduate population. The four that make up the composite are spread wide.

Mobility is the strongest, and affordability is the weakest. Return and access sit close together in the upper eighties, well above the middle of the field.

Azimuth places Texas A&M University-College Station in the 99th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions, the strongest of the university's four pillars. The return pillar sits in the 88th percentile, and access follows in the 87th percentile.

Affordability is the weakest pillar, in the 59th percentile. The university's composite rank is #25 nationally.

19.6% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants. Those students complete at 77.7%, 6.2 percentage points below the rate for the entering cohort as a whole.

Azimuth ranks Texas A&M University-College Station #197 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. For mobility, Azimuth ranks the university #16 among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $9,644 more than the model expects for similar students.

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

Texas A&M rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#25
Texas#5
South#8

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 99
Access & reach
National percentile: 87
Affordability
National percentile: 59
Return on investment
National percentile: 88

Top-ranked majors

  1. Ocean Engineering#1
  2. Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians#1
  3. Marine Transportation#1

This school’s three highest-ranked programs nationally. Each rank compares bachelor’s programs in the same field; field sizes differ.

Explore major rankings

01 / Texas A&M briefing

Texas A&M cost & financial aid[6][7]

Texas A&M University-College Station publishes a cost of attendance of $32,696. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported sticker charges of $36,877 for out-of-state tuition, $3,970 in required fees, and $12,944 for on-campus food and housing.

Estimated books and supplies add $882, transportation $1,692, and other expenses $3,252. The average net price for aid recipients is $21,315, an offset of $11,381 from the sticker total.

That figure runs above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $5,681. Azimuth ranks the university #576 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Texas A&M University-College Station publishes a cost of attendance of $32,696, with in-state tuition at $13,154 and out-of-state tuition at $40,124. For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $12,784, while families in the $48,001–$75,000 band see an of $17,435.

For families earning over $110,000, the average net price is $30,660. Azimuth ranks the university #576 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Financial aid reduces the sticker price by an average of $11,381, bringing the average net price for first-time full-time aid recipients to $21,315. That figure is above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $5,681.

In-state tuition and fees are $13,154, and the published room and board charge is $13,008. The median federal student debt at completion is $17,804.

That median is below the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions, a difference of $2,272. About 80.5% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $32,258. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment for a graduate with the median federal debt is $202.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$17,435

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Texas A&M

Federal-loan borrowers who complete a degree at Texas A&M University-College Station carry a median debt of $17,804. This median sits below the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $2,272.

80.5% of federal aid recipients take federal loans. The median Parent PLUS loan is $32,258 for a separate parent-borrower population.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 36% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative principal of $27,831 per borrower. Among all graduates, 34% held federal loans averaging $17,548, and 9% held private loans averaging $38,272; these groups overlap.

Graduates of Texas A&M University-College Station earn about $9,644 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 82nd percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The median earnings four years after completion reach $76,234, which lands in the 85th percentile nationally.

Earnings scenarios derived from the university's program mix suggest a typical earnings level of $76,234, with a downside scenario of $55,820 and an upside scenario of $106,949. The median federal debt at completion is $17,804, which runs below the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment is $202.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $32,258. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $202.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$17,804
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$32,258

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$202/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$410/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 / Texas A&M briefing

Texas A&M career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Texas A&M University-College Station reports median earnings of $76,234 four years after completion. That institution-wide figure is a starting point; results for particular fields can differ.

Read earnings alongside retention and completion. Earnings among completers do not include every student who entered the institution, while the lower and higher planning estimates describe modeled mixes of program outcomes rather than observed salary percentiles.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$12,197
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$2,553
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$9,644

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 / Texas A&M briefing

Texas A&M acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Texas A&M University-College Station admitted 57.4% of applicants, a rate well below the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 62,967 applicants, 32,531 admitted, and 12,484 enrolled first-year students.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
57.4%
25th percentile
1160
Median
1280
75th percentile
1390

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

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Texas A&M briefing

What are the largest majors at Texas A&M?[12]

The largest program records at Texas A&M University-College Station, by reported degrees awarded, are: Biology, General (837 awards); Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other (688 awards); Psychology, General (550 awards); Agricultural Business and Management (509 awards); Business Administration, Management and Operations (471 awards). These counts describe degree output in the source reporting period, not current enrollment or unique people.

Among those larger programs, reported median earnings four years after completion include Biology, General at $61,734; Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other at $58,697; Psychology, General at $58,396. Program size and earnings answer different questions; the largest program need not have the highest earnings.

Keep individual program records separate from broader degree categories and from records for other reporting periods. Those views can describe different parts of the university’s academic mix.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Biology, General 837 degrees awarded
$61,734
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other 688 degrees awarded
$58,697
Psychology, General 550 degrees awarded
$58,396
Agricultural Business and Management 509 degrees awarded
$77,479
Business Administration, Management and Operations 471 degrees awarded
$82,213
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 453 degrees awarded
$62,888

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 / Texas A&M briefing

How does Texas A&M serve students from different backgrounds?

Azimuth places Texas A&M University-College Station in the 99th percentile for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 83.9%, and Pell recipients complete at 77.7% — below the overall rate by 6.2 percentage points.

Graduates earn about $9,644 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that sits in the 82nd percentile nationally.

Texas A&M University-College Station admits 57.4% of applicants, a rate well below the peer median of 78.1%. Pell Grant recipients make up 19.6% of the 59,615 undergraduates, and an estimated 26.9% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

Azimuth places the access pillar in the 87th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

06 / Texas A&M briefing

What colleges are similar to Texas A&M?[15]

The comparisons for Texas A&M University-College Station cover higher reported admission rates, similar admissions profiles, higher reported earnings at similar cost, lower reported cost with similar earnings and options in the same state or region. The similar-schools brief keeps these questions in separate groups, with related institutional profiles shown as another comparison.

Each group has its own candidate list and ordering. A high position within one group is not a rank against all the schools in the other groups, and a school can appear more than once for different reasons. Check the source definition and earnings period for the comparison you choose.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Texas A&M.

Admissions peerBaylor University51.3% admitted
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MBaylor University
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$69,608-$6,626 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$41,104+$19,789 vs Texas A&M · higher cost
Admission rate57.4%51.3%
Explore Baylor University →
Higher-admission alternativeUniversity of Houston73.9% admitted
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MUniversity of Houston
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$68,091-$8,143 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$14,276-$7,039 vs Texas A&M · lower cost
Admission rate57.4%73.9%
Explore University of Houston →
Nearby alternativeThe University of Texas at AustinNearby option · TX
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MThe University of Texas at Austin
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$79,115+$2,881 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$19,857-$1,458 vs Texas A&M · lower cost
Admission rate57.4%26.6%
Explore The University of Texas at Austin →
Higher-earnings alternativeMaine Maritime Academy$113,298 earnings
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MMaine Maritime Academy
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$113,298+$37,064 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$23,414+$2,099 vs Texas A&M · higher cost
Admission rate57.4%54.1%
Explore Maine Maritime Academy →
Lower-cost alternativeUniversity of Houston$14,276 average net price
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MUniversity of Houston
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$68,091-$8,143 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$14,276-$7,039 vs Texas A&M · lower cost
Admission rate57.4%73.9%
Explore University of Houston →
Similar profileArizona State University Campus ImmersionMatched across several measures
Comparison with Texas A&M
MeasureTexas A&MArizona State University Campus Immersion
Peer earnings · 4 years$76,234$66,968-$9,266 vs Texas A&M
Average annual net price$21,315$14,967-$6,348 vs Texas A&M · lower cost
Admission rate57.4%89.9%
Explore Arizona State University Campus Immersion →

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 uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. 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