College Scorecard · cost, debt & earnings

University of Houston

Houston, TX · Public · Bachelor-granting · 38,380 undergrads · 74% admitted

Do students finish?

65% complete

Most students who start here finish.

What does it cost?

$26,185/yr net

Average annual price after grants & scholarships. ~$104,740 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.

$62,377 median, 10 yrs after entry

25th pct $39,375 median $62,377 75th pct $92,999

81% 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.

61 Bachelor's programs · $15,377 to $77,026 (1 yr out)

MajorPay · 1yr outMedian debt

Chemical Engineering.Bachelor's $77,026 $19,228

Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering.Bachelor's $75,967 $22,625

Computer Engineering.Bachelor's $74,393 $21,582

Petroleum Engineering.Bachelor's $73,141 $22,233

Industrial Engineering.Bachelor's $72,713 $20,500

Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing.Bachelor's $68,526 $19,131

Mechanical Engineering.Bachelor's $68,022 $18,750

Construction Engineering Technology/Technician.Bachelor's $66,571 $21,500

Civil Engineering.Bachelor's $65,253 $18,660

Computer and Information Sciences, General.Bachelor's $63,082 $16,875

Mechanical Engineering Related Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $61,329 $27,000

Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations.Bachelor's $59,493 $10,875

Management Information Systems and Services.Bachelor's $57,394 $15,375

Electrical/Electronic Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $55,682 $22,875

Computer Systems Analysis.Bachelor's $55,675 $24,154

Information Science/Studies.Bachelor's $52,557 —

Business Administration, Management and Operations.Bachelor's $49,877 $16,750

Music.Bachelor's $49,557 $25,000

Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, Other.Bachelor's $49,029 $18,634

General Sales, Merchandising and Related Marketing Operations.Bachelor's $47,903 $22,138

Accounting and Related Services.Bachelor's $47,454 $14,000

Architecture.Bachelor's $47,319 $26,125

Marketing.Bachelor's $46,988 $15,250

Finance and Financial Management Services.Bachelor's $45,390 $15,611

Natural Resources Conservation and Research.Bachelor's $42,517 —

Economics.Bachelor's $42,417 $16,625

Chemistry.Bachelor's $42,259 $12,500

Computer Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor's $41,917 $20,281

Mathematics.Bachelor's $41,468 $18,000

Human Resources Management and Services.Bachelor's $40,455 $20,179

Business/Corporate Communications.Bachelor's $39,832 $18,750

Biotechnology.Bachelor's $38,691 $17,250

Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences.Bachelor's $38,637 $24,875

Design and Applied Arts.Bachelor's $38,297 $24,000

Hospitality Administration/Management.Bachelor's $37,817 $19,500

Communication and Media Studies.Bachelor's $37,185 $23,205

English Language and Literature, General.Bachelor's $36,587 $19,500

Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication.Bachelor's $36,173 $18,750

Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences Business Services.Bachelor's $34,981 $18,548

Computer Software and Media Applications.Bachelor's $32,237 $22,500

Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services.Bachelor's $31,501 $20,000

Political Science and Government.Bachelor's $31,388 $17,355

Psychology, General.Bachelor's $31,245 $18,213

Journalism.Bachelor's $30,425 $18,750

Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics.Bachelor's $30,401 $18,375

Applied Mathematics.Bachelor's $30,343 —

Health Services/Allied Health/Health Sciences, General.Bachelor's $30,274 $18,750

History.Bachelor's $30,223 $19,500

Philosophy.Bachelor's $29,387 $24,200

Sports, Kinesiology, and Physical Education/Fitness.Bachelor's $29,345 $20,276

Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities.Bachelor's $27,382 $18,248

Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor's $27,152 $17,640

Fine and Studio Arts.Bachelor's $27,051 $21,500

Sociology.Bachelor's $26,255 $14,000

Biology, General.Bachelor's $25,573 $17,174

Communication Disorders Sciences and Services.Bachelor's $25,544 $16,250

Anthropology.Bachelor's $24,527 $19,125

Radio, Television, and Digital Communication.Bachelor's $24,089 $18,730

Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies.Bachelor's $23,621 —

Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services.Bachelor's $23,158 $18,475

Drama/Theatre Arts and Stagecraft.Bachelor's $15,377 —

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

$14,000

≈ 22% 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. And because students who drop out borrow less, a school where many students don't finish can show a deceptively low debt figure — read it next to the completion rate above.

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 (88 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