Texas Southern University
Public Research University in Houston, TX. Six-year graduation rate 22%. Median 10-year earnings $38,924.
Ten-year median earnings of $38,924 are on the low side, which raises the bar for what this degree needs to cost. Completion is the weak point: 22% graduate within six years. Debt is the pressure point: a median of $29,000 at graduation. It also moves people — 3.4% of students climb from the bottom fifth of the income distribution to the top.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Debt-to-income ratio 0.75 — elevated (above 0.60)
- ! Graduation rate 22% — below national average
Admissions
With an acceptance rate of 97%, Texas Southern University takes nearly everyone who applies. The applicant pool runs to 9,391, typical for a school of this reach. Only 18% of admitted students enroll — the great majority of admits go elsewhere or nowhere. 37% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score. The bands below describe the middle half of that group, not of the class.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 420–520 | 603 (37%) |
| SAT Math | 380–480 | |
| ACT Composite | 15–19 | 230 (14%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at Texas Southern University →Academics
A six-year graduation rate of 22% means finishing is closer to the exception than the rule. Retention of 66% means a meaningful slice of each entering class does not return. Retention runs well ahead of completion, which means students are not leaving immediately; they are leaving somewhere between the second year and the finish line. A 24% transfer-out rate accounts for part of that gap: those students left for another institution rather than dropping out, and the graduation rate above counts them as non-completers here. Retention drops to 43% for part-time students, a gap worth weighing if full-time study is not realistic.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 6,619 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
At $13,584 a year on average after grant aid, cost is low here relative to most undergraduate institutions. Income makes less difference than usual: $16,437 at $0–30k, $21,610 at $110k+. Grant aid is widespread — 87% of students receive it, averaging $8,193. Most students borrow — 67% take federal loans to cover the gap.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 1,536 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $16,437 |
| $30–48k | $21,115 |
| $48–75k | $21,280 |
| $75–110k | $22,698 |
| $110k+ | $21,610 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 4,464 of these 6,619 students, totalling $30,482,273 — an average of $6,828 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Harris County) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)