Education Atlas

College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

Baylor University

Waco, TX · Private nonprofit · Bachelor-granting · 14,785 undergrads · 51% admitted

Do students finish?
80% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?
$74,226/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$296,904 over four years if you finish on time.

What former students go on to earn

The middle 50% of students who received federal aid, measured 10 years after they entered (an earlier entering class — not a guarantee, and not limited to those who graduated). Earnings vary enormously by field of study.

$65,793 median, 10 yrs after entry
25th pct $44,166 median $65,793 75th pct $94,158

82% earn more than a typical high-school graduate (the dashed line above, $28,000 — a fixed, somewhat dated federal benchmark) ten years on.

Your major matters more than your school

The school-wide figure above blends every major together — but pay varies enormously by program. Pick a degree level (and search your major) to compare like-for-like.

Read these on their own terms. Program pay is measured 1 year after completing the program (early career, graduates only) — not the same as the school-wide number above, which is 10 years after a student first enrolled. Don't compare a program figure to the school figure; use the programs to compare majors to each other.

43 Bachelor's programs · $14,901 to $79,793 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt
Computer Science.Bachelor's $79,793 $27,000
General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations.Bachelor's $71,388 $20,500
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $67,702 $21,500
Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $63,921 $26,096
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $63,243 $22,362
Management Information Systems and Services.Bachelor's $62,614 $23,000
Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $60,896 $21,500
Business/Commerce, General.Bachelor's $60,012 $15,000
International Business.Bachelor's $56,151
Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $55,784 $20,495
Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $52,689 $21,500
Human Resources Management and Services.Bachelor's $51,807 $20,475
Real Estate.Bachelor's $51,139 $20,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas.Bachelor's $49,234 $27,000
Business/Managerial Economics.Bachelor's $47,522 $22,500
Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods.Bachelor's $46,883 $22,250
Marketing.Bachelor's $45,337 $21,525
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations.Bachelor's $44,803 $19,012
Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $44,506 $25,750
Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations.Bachelor's $43,995 $20,625
Chemistry.Bachelor's $39,868 $27,000
International Relations and National Security Studies.Bachelor's $38,881 $22,409
Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies, General.Bachelor's $38,671 $26,500
Journalism.Bachelor's $37,631 $23,525
Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $36,068 $23,250
Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $30,583 $26,000
Sociology.Bachelor's $29,875 $25,937
Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $28,951 $25,500
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor's $28,811 $26,500
Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $28,776 $20,000
Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $28,425 $25,000
English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $27,540
Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $24,558 $25,000
Psychology, General.Bachelor's $24,478 $25,000
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.Bachelor's $23,100 $19,500
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs.Bachelor's $22,864 $25,000
Biology, General.Bachelor's $20,866 $23,165
Anthropology.Bachelor's $20,471 $27,000
Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $19,582 $19,681
Neurobiology and Neurosciences.Bachelor's $18,860 $27,000
Radio, Television, and Digital Communication.Bachelor's $17,954 $24,200
Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $17,218 $24,130
Music.Bachelor's $14,901 $26,500

The Dept. of Education omits programs with too few graduates (to protect privacy), so not every major appears. Pay is a median for federally-aided graduates. Full program detail on the official Scorecard.

Typical federal loan debt
$19,500
30% of one year's typical earnings here

This counts federal student loans only — not private loans, Parent PLUS loans, or family savings, so the true cost of borrowing is usually higher.

What these numbers are — and are not

Every figure here is an institution-wide median from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard. It is not a prediction of what you would earn or owe — a computer-science and a fine-arts graduate of the same school can earn wildly different amounts, and your field of study matters more than your school. It is not a figure for any one program, not proof the school caused the outcome (selective schools admit students who would earn more anyway), and not a "best college" ranking. Earnings and debt cover federally-aided students.

→ The number that actually answers "worth it" is earnings by major — see the by-major breakdown above (54 programs at this school).

Also available: structured data (JSON-LD) · plain text · JSON. Source: U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard (2026-06-10 release). · school website