College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Texas State University

TXLarge public institution · Overall rank #40 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

In the 97th percentile nationally.

Who it’s a good fit for

Texas State University is a public university in San Marcos, Texas, where the degree mix is led by Business and Communication & Journalism. Most graduates are estimated to go into jobs rather than on to further study, and mobility is among the highest we track.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them, yet the typical graduate earns below the median at comparable schools. The model attributes the gain to the factors it measures, which adds to expected earnings, while the remainder it cannot explain subtracts from them.

Students who arrive with Pell Grants finish above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole, and access is well above average. The lowest income band pays well below the published cost, while the highest pays closer to it.

The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools, and the largest programs are not the best-paid ones. A student drawn to Business or Psychology should go in knowing that the highest earnings are in much smaller programs like Computer Science and Construction Engineering Technology/Technician.

Texas State University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
89.3%
Six-year completion[2]
55.3%
Four-year earnings[3]
$58,786

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$13,804
Median student debt[4]
$21,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,500

Texas State University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Texas State University is a public university in San Marcos, Texas, enrolling 36,177 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits near the top of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions (97th percentile).

The university admits 89.3% of applicants, a share that exceeds the 78.1% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Among full-time first-year students, 80.1% return for a second year, while the peer median is 83.1%.

The six-year graduation rate is 55.3%, below the peer median of 65.0%. An estimated 28.6% of the student body arrives as transfers or part-time students, so many undergraduates begin their degrees elsewhere.

The four at Texas State University are spread wide. Mobility is the strongest, at the 99th percentile, and return is the weakest, at the 56th percentile.

Access sits near mobility at the 89th percentile, while affordability is closer to return at the 69th percentile.

Azimuth ranks Texas State University #40 among 1,467 nonprofit four-year institutions. The university's strongest pillar is mobility, where it sits in the 99th percentile, and its weakest is return, in the 56th percentile.

The access pillar reaches the 89th percentile, and affordability lands in the 69th percentile.

Pell Grants reach 37.2% of undergraduates at Texas State University, a financial-access measure. The six-year completion rate for Pell recipients is 59.7%, which is 4.4 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (55.3%).

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #157 for access. Azimuth ranks Texas State University #20 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students, a result that coincides with the university's mobility standing.

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

Texas State University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#40
Texas#8
South#13

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 99
Access & reach
National percentile: 89
Affordability
National percentile: 69
Return on investment
National percentile: 56

Top-ranked majors

  1. Agriculture, General#3
  2. Dance#3
  3. Manufacturing Engineering#5

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 State University briefing

Texas State University cost & financial aid[6][7]

At Texas State University, the published cost of attendance is $28,073, and the typical aid recipient pays less than the full sticker price. Tuition and fees for Texas residents come to $11,450, with room and board listed at $12,630.

Nonresidents pay tuition and fees of $22,930. Grants and scholarships bring the average aid recipient's annual cost down to $16,805, a reduction of $11,268 from the sticker price.

That average sits $1,171 above the $15,634 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Aid covers about 40% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

Azimuth ranks the university #440 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Texas State University publishes a cost of attendance of $28,073, with in-state tuition at $11,450 and room and board at $12,630. After grant and scholarship aid, the average net price for families earning under $30,000 is $12,715.

For families in the $48,001–$75,000 band the is $13,804, and for families earning over $110,000 it is $24,713. Azimuth ranks the university #440 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Financial aid reduces the sticker price by an average of $11,268, bringing the average net price for first-time full-time Title IV aid recipients to $16,805. That figure is above the median of $15,634 for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $1,171.

In-state tuition is $11,450, and out-of-state students face a published tuition of $22,930. The median federal student debt at completion is $21,000.

That median is above the peer median of $20,076 by $924. About 87.2% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing stands at $22,500. The median federal student debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $239 a month if repaid over ten years.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$13,804

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Texas State University

About 87.2% of federal aid recipients at Texas State University take federal loans. For those who complete a degree, the median federal student debt is $21,000.

That median is above the $20,076 median at comparable institutions (same type and size) by $924. Parent borrowers, a separate population, carry a median Parent PLUS loan of $22,500.

In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported that 55% of graduates borrowed from any source, with an average cumulative amount of $23,498 per borrower. Of all graduates, 53% held federal loans averaging $19,520, including 8% who also held private loans averaging $26,452.

Graduates of Texas State University earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome that falls in the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Four years after completion, the median earnings for working, non-enrolled completers is $58,786, which sits in the 46th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the university's program mix show a typical figure of $58,786, a downside scenario of $48,328, and an upside scenario of $81,809. The median federal debt at completion is $21,000, which is above the $20,076 median for comparable institutions (same type and size) by $924. If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $239.

Median Parent PLUS borrowing, a separate parent-borrower population, is $22,500. The estimated monthly student payment if repaid over ten years is $239.

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

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$21,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,500

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

Estimated student payment · monthly
$239/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$286/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 State University briefing

Texas State University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates of Texas State University who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $58,786, in the 46th percentile. That is $6,824 below the $65,610 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Graduates earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students, placing that gap at the 67th percentile within the model's coverage set. Azimuth places the return pillar at the 56th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,329. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $4,770. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $943.

Among Texas State University graduates who are working and not enrolled four years after completion, the median wage is $58,786. This result is drawn from an earnings cohort of 9,159 federally aided completers.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, that earnings level falls at the 46th percentile. Graduates earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students.

That places the gap at the 67th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. An estimated 27.1% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

Earnings scenarios estimated from the program mix show a typical outcome of $58,786. The downside scenario for lower-earning program clusters is $48,328. The upside scenario for higher-earning clusters is $81,809.

Four years after completion, graduates of Texas State University earn a median of $58,786, which places the university in the 46th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. That figure is below the median of $65,610 for comparable institutions (same type and size), a gap of $6,824.

Overall, graduates earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students, a result in the 67th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $8,329.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $4,770. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $943.

Azimuth ranks the university #645 for return. Earnings scenarios grounded in the program mix show a downside of $48,328 and an upside of $81,809.

The university's largest program, Psychology, awarded 523 degrees and shows median earnings of $50,549 four years after completion, with an Azimuth national rank of #150 in its field. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn a median of $104,127.

Construction Engineering Technology/Technician graduates earn $100,352, a program that ranks #7 nationally. The university also has a high-return program in Agriculture, which ranks #3 nationally and earns $71,237, a figure that is 1.33x the national median for the field.

The range between the downside and upside scenarios is wide, reflecting the diversity of the university's program mix. The downside earnings scenario sits at $48,328, while the upside scenario reaches $81,809.

Program-level earnings vary by field of study. Graduates of Computer Science earn a median of $104,127 four years after completion, while those from Construction Engineering Technology/Technician earn $100,352.

Graduates of Texas State University earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students. That earnings strength coincides with a median federal student debt of $21,000 for borrowers who complete a degree.

That figure is above the peer median of $20,076 for comparable institutions (same type and size). If repaid over ten years, the estimated monthly payment on that debt is $239.

Parent PLUS borrowers, a separate population, carry a median of $22,500. The university's average net price of $16,805 sits above the peer median of $15,634 for comparable institutions.

For families earning under $30,000, the average net price is $12,715. The spread between the lowest and highest income bands is $11,998, and aid covers about 40% of the published cost for the average aid recipient.

These figures reflect an institution where higher-than-expected earnings and a debt level close to the peer median coexist with a net price that runs slightly above peers.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$8,329
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$4,770
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$3,559

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 State University briefing

Texas State University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

Texas State University admitted 89.3% of applicants, above the median of 78.1% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 44,436 applicants, 40,515 admitted, and 9,369 enrolled.

SAT: reported composite scores
Admission rate
89.3%
25th percentile
960
Median
1070
75th percentile
1180

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

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Texas State University briefing

What are the largest majors at Texas State University?[12]

Texas State University's highest-earning bachelor's program is Computer Science, where completers earn a median of $104,127 four years after completion, with 241 degrees awarded and an Azimuth national rank of #96. Construction Engineering Technology/Technician follows at $100,352 and 124 degrees awarded, ranking #7 nationally.

Among the largest programs, Business Administration and Management awards 411 degrees and shows median earnings of $67,048, with an Azimuth national rank of #149. Psychology, the largest program at 523 degrees awarded, reaches $50,549 and ranks #150 nationally.

Texas State University has 59 ranked bachelor's programs. The largest by degrees awarded is Psychology, with 523 degrees awarded and a national rank of #150.

Kinesiology and Physical Education follows with 414 degrees awarded and a rank of #65. The top-ranked program is Dance, which holds a national rank of #3 and median earnings of $53,057 four years after completion. Agriculture ranks #3 nationally.

Texas State University awards bachelor's degrees across 59 programs with an Azimuth national rank and 65 with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is led by Business, which accounts for 16.3% of degrees awarded, followed by Communication & Journalism at 10.0% and Psychology at 7.1%.

The largest single programs are Psychology with 523 degrees awarded, Kinesiology and Physical Education with 414, and Business Administration and Management with 411. The highest-ranked program is Dance, which awards 41 degrees a year and ranks #2 in Texas within its field.

Graduates earn a median of $53,057 four years after completion, a benchmark ratio of 1.33x against the national median for its field. Agriculture ranks #3 nationally and #1 in Texas, with 38 degrees awarded and median earnings of $71,237.

Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations is also highly ranked, at #5 nationally and #2 in Texas, with 82 degrees awarded and median earnings of $58,794. The highest-earning program is Computer Science, where graduates earn $104,127 four years out, from 241 degrees awarded a year.

Strength is spread across several fields rather than concentrated in one. The highest-ranked programs sit in the arts, agriculture, and specialized business fields, while the highest earnings come from engineering and computer science. Across all fields, 15.7% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Psychology, General 523 degrees awarded
$50,549
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness 414 degrees awarded
$55,832
Business Administration, Management and Operations 411 degrees awarded
$67,048
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication 386 degrees awarded
$59,009
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods 351 degrees awarded
Too few graduates to report
Criminal Justice and Corrections 339 degrees awarded
$52,447

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 State University briefing

How does Texas State University serve students from different backgrounds?

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth ranks the university #20 for mobility. That ranking places the mobility pillar in the 99th percentile.

The first-time full-time cohort graduates at a six-year rate of 55.3%, whereas Pell recipients within the same cohort reach 59.7%, exceeding the overall rate by 4.4 percentage points. Graduates earn about $3,559 more than the model expects for similar students, an outcome in the 67th percentile.

Azimuth places the access pillar of Texas State University in the 89th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The public university admits 89.3% of applicants, a figure well above the peer median of 78.1%.

Pell Grant recipients account for 37.2% of the 36,177 undergraduates, and an estimated 28.6% arrive as transfers or part-time students.

06 / Texas State University briefing

What colleges are similar to Texas State University?[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 Texas State University.

Admissions peerThe University of Texas at San Antonio86.8% admitted
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityThe University of Texas at San Antonio
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$60,333+$1,547 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$10,836-$5,969 vs Texas State University · lower cost
Admission rate89.3%86.8%
Explore The University of Texas at San Antonio →
Higher-admission alternativeThe University of Texas at El Paso99.9% admitted
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityThe University of Texas at El Paso
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$58,771-$15 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$9,403-$7,402 vs Texas State University · lower cost
Admission rate89.3%99.9%
Explore The University of Texas at El Paso →
Nearby alternativeThe University of Texas at San AntonioNearby option · TX
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityThe University of Texas at San Antonio
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$60,333+$1,547 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$10,836-$5,969 vs Texas State University · lower cost
Admission rate89.3%86.8%
Explore The University of Texas at San Antonio →
Higher-earnings alternativeUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell$81,163 earnings
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityUniversity of Massachusetts-Lowell
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$81,163+$22,377 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$17,163+$358 vs Texas State University · higher cost
Admission rate89.3%83.0%
Explore University of Massachusetts-Lowell →
Lower-cost alternativeTexas A&M University-Victoria$8,109 average net price
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityTexas A&M University-Victoria
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$57,364-$1,422 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$8,109-$8,696 vs Texas State University · lower cost
Admission rate89.3%95.9%
Explore Texas A&M University-Victoria →
Similar profileUniversity of North TexasMatched across several measures
Comparison with Texas State University
MeasureTexas State UniversityUniversity of North Texas
Peer earnings · 4 years$58,786$58,743-$43 vs Texas State University
Average annual net price$16,805$15,649-$1,156 vs Texas State University · lower cost
Admission rate89.3%72.2%
Explore University of North Texas →

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