Texas graduates earn a median $74,802 five years after college, ranking No. 2 in the SEC and beating rival Texas A&M in another key measure.
Texas can add another category to the list of things it can brag about in the SEC — and this one has nothing to do with football trophies, recruiting rankings or stadium size.
University of Texas graduates rank No. 2 in the SEC in median earnings five years after graduation, bringing in $74,802 per year, according to data from Niche.com. Only Vanderbilt ranks ahead of the Longhorns among the conference’s 16 schools.
And yes, Texas A&M fans, Austin has College Station beat here, too.
The Aggies finished third at $72,578, putting Texas ahead by $2,224 annually five years after graduation. Florida sits right behind A&M at $72,379, giving the SEC a clear four-school upper tier when it comes to early-career earning power.
For Texas, the ranking reinforces something bigger than athletic conference bragging rights.
The Longhorns are also tied for No. 30 nationally in the cited U.S. News & World Report academic rankings, placing them tied for second in the SEC behind Vanderbilt. Texas’ reported SAT range of 1250-1510 and ACT range of 27-33 further reflects the competitive academic profile of the university.
Then there’s Austin.
Texas graduates leave school in the middle of one of the country’s most prominent business and technology markets, while the state’s expanding economy offers opportunities in technology, energy, finance, healthcare, engineering and countless other industries.
That doesn’t mean a Texas degree automatically produces a $74,802 salary. Median earnings can be influenced by everything from degree choice and career field to geography and local cost of living.
But compared with the rest of the SEC, the numbers are striking.
Georgia ranks sixth at $66,487. Tennessee checks in at No. 13 with $61,635. Alabama is 11th at $62,983, while LSU sits 10th at $63,498.
At the bottom are Mississippi State at $56,331 and Ole Miss at $56,853.
That creates an $18,471 gap between Texas and Mississippi State just five years after graduation.
There’s also an interesting Texas-sized takeaway near the top of the rankings. The SEC’s two schools from the Lone Star State occupy two of the first three positions, with Texas second and Texas A&M third.
The Longhorns joined the SEC expecting to compete with the conference’s biggest brands on Saturdays.
But when the conversation shifts from Saturdays to salaries, Texas is already near the top. Only Vanderbilt stands between the Longhorns and No. 1.
