10-YEAR PAYOFF CURVECumulative economic payoff after graduation
−$150,240at year 10Net gainInvestment not yet recovered
NET GAIN$0UNRECOVERED
Public · COLLEGE PAYOFF
Texas Southmost College
Brownsville, TX · 10 field-and-degree records
Earnings reported for 10 · Federal debt reported for 7
Based onObserved earnings + college priceEstimate10-year payoff
Estimated 10-year payoff
Negative payoff
−$150,240 over 10 years
Modeled from observed year-5 institution earnings and the institution-wide average net price over four years.
45.7 yrsTime to earn back the modeled cost
−78%Estimated return after 10 years
$49,210Observed earnings · year 5
Not reachedHighest annual price before payoff reaches $0
Start with your question
What do you want to understand?
ECONOMIC INVESTMENT → PAYBACK
Estimated payoff over ten years.
The scenario counts direct price and earnings forgone upfront, then applies the reported annual earnings premium.
FEDERAL COST DATA
Four ways to read college price.
Annual college-wide figures from the current College Scorecard release. Average net price covers full-time, first-time undergraduates receiving federal aid; public-college figures use in-state students. Program tuition and individual aid offers may differ.
PUBLISHED STUDENT BUDGET · 2024–25
What makes up the annual price?
Sticker-price components reported to IPEDS. Grants and scholarships are not subtracted here.
Living off campus: $12,801 housing and food allowance plus $4,430 in other expenses.
Do not confuse this with net price. Net price subtracts average grants and scholarships. DegreeVerdict continues to use the separately labeled average net price in its standard college ROI scenario.
PRICE SENSITIVITY
The price can change the verdict.
Hold observed earnings constant and see how the modeled ten-year payoff changes as annual price rises.
← Negative payoff$0Positive payoff →
$0Annual price−$137,900
$3,000Current college-wide context−$149,900
$8,000Annual price−$169,900
$16,000Annual price−$201,900
$24,000Annual price−$233,900
$32,000Annual price−$265,900
$40,000Annual price−$297,900
HOW STUDENTS ATTEND · 2023-24
Online study is a meaningful part of the student experience.
IPEDS enrollment counts show course delivery across the whole institution. They do not indicate whether a specific degree can be completed online.
Institution-level attendance context from IPEDS. Program delivery is reported separately on degree pages and in the program directory. These figures do not enter ROI.
College identity and local contextAccreditation, institution type, dual enrollment and state prices
COLLEGE AT A GLANCE
Institution details
Current federal characteristics describing the college, not the outcomes of a specific program.
- Accreditor
- Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
- Main award level
- Associate degrees
- Campus setting
- City
- Admissions
- Open admission
- Delivery
- Campus or mixed delivery
- Federal designation
- No special designation reported
DUAL-ENROLLMENT CONTEXT · 2024
6,717 high-school students took college courses.
IPEDS counts students enrolled in college credit while still in high school. A large dual-enrollment population can shape headline enrollment figures, especially at community colleges.
This is participation, not a college completion rate. It does not indicate how many students later enrolled after high school, earned a credential or entered the workforce.
STATE PRICE CONTEXT · 2024
Prices in Texas run 3% below the U.S. level.
BEA Regional Price Parities compare price levels across states. A value of 100 equals the national average.
What it costs and what graduates earn
$3,085Average net price / year
$10,999Cost of attendance
$9,000Median federal student debt · completer borrowers
$95/moPublished 10-year payment estimate
$49,210Median earnings · year 5 after completion
29.8%Completion rate
Not availableAdmission rate
3,372Student size
Debt covers federal student-loan borrowers who completed. It does not include Parent PLUS or private loans. We show admissions scores only when a valid federal value is available.
What the numbers say about Texas Southmost College
What does Texas Southmost College cost?
Texas Southmost College reports an average annual net price of $3,085 after grants and scholarships. This is an institution-wide average, not an individual aid offer.
What do Texas Southmost College graduates earn?
The observed median earnings figure is $49,210 5 years after completion. It describes a federal cohort, not a guaranteed starting salary.
How much federal debt do Texas Southmost College graduates have?
Completer borrowers report median cumulative federal student debt of $9,000. Parent PLUS and private loans are not included.
Is every degree at Texas Southmost College worth the same?
No. The current release contains 10 field-and-degree records for Texas Southmost College; 10 report year-4 earnings and 7 report federal debt. Outcomes can differ substantially by field and degree level.
DEBT AFTER COLLEGE
Are borrowers making progress?
Repayment progress, default and debt at exit describe different federal borrower cohorts. They are shown separately and do not change the ROI estimate.
Source: College Scorecard. Repayment progress is the share of borrowers who reduced principal by at least $1 at the stated measurement point. Debt covers federal student loans; Parent PLUS and private loans are excluded. Cohorts and reporting periods differ across measures.
Who studied here during the year
12,630Students enrolled at any point
12,630Undergraduate students
Not availableGraduate students
Unduplicated students enrolled at any point from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. This full-year measure is different from a fall headcount and does not enter ROI.
More student and earnings detailPrice by family income, retention, equity and common industries
WHO PAYS, WHO FINISHES, WHO EARNS
Outcomes are not the same for every family.
These federal cohorts add context that a single college average can hide. Missing figures remain unreported rather than estimated.
Complete within 150% of the expected time
35% received a Pell Grant within eight yearsMedian Parent PLUS debt
Borrower count not reportedMedian federal student debt
41% making progress in repayment after three yearsStudent family incomeMedian earnings after 10 yearsObserved federal cohorts
Lower income$40,574Earnings are not a guarantee
Middle income$45,463Earnings are not a guarantee
Higher income$54,406Earnings are not a guarantee
Three-year repayment progress
Lower income38%
Middle income48%
Higher income49%
Undergraduate student composition
White2%
Black0%
Hispanic93%
Asian0%
Source: College Scorecard, June 2026 release. Parent PLUS debt belongs to parents; student-debt measures exclude Parent PLUS and private loans. Cohort definitions differ by measure.
INDEPENDENT CENSUS EARNINGS VIEW
How earnings develop by field
Privacy-protected Census employment records follow graduate cohorts one, five and ten years after completion. This source is kept separate from College Scorecard because its population and methodology differ.
Field and credentialYear 1Year 5Year 10
Advanced/Graduate Dentistry and Oral Sciences.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 51
$88,826Year 1
$98,163Year 5
$108,603Year 10
Accounting and Related Services.Master’s degree · Broad federal field 52
$63,522Year 1
$82,479Year 5
$86,717Year 10
Computer Programming.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 11
$58,858Year 1
$58,197Year 5
$78,843Year 10
Accounting and Computer Science.Master’s degree · Broad federal field 30
$65,590Year 1
$66,779Year 5
$77,093Year 10
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education.Master’s degree · Broad federal field 13
$62,649Year 1
$69,129Year 5
$76,470Year 10
Architectural Engineering Technologies/Technicians.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 15
Not availableYear 1
Not availableYear 5
$73,157Year 10
Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 26
$39,163Year 1
$56,877Year 5
$63,874Year 10
Applied Mathematics.Bachelor’s degree · Broad federal field 27
$55,261Year 1
$59,517Year 5
$62,446Year 10
Median annual earnings in 2023 dollars. Each time point may use a different pooled graduation cohort. Coverage is limited to institutions participating in the Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes program.
NATIONAL CONTEXT
How this college compares
Percentiles compare this institution with currently operating colleges that report the same federal measure.
WHAT STANDS OUT
A faster read on this college
These summaries use every reportable field-and-credential record at this institution. They do not fill privacy-suppressed outcomes.
EARNINGS OVER TIME
What graduates earned in later years
$28,869Year 1
$41,643Year 4
$49,210Year 5
Each year can represent a different federal cohort, so the points do not track the same people over time.
Your choice of degree can change the payoff.
Graduate earnings differ by field and credential, even within the same college.
1Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions · Associate's Degree$66,6872Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$64,7873Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and Inspection · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$52,8324Social Work · Associate's Degree$44,9905Business/Commerce, General · Associate's Degree$41,6146Criminal Justice and Corrections · Associate's Degree$41,2847Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities · Associate's Degree$39,1918Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians · Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma$37,743Observed year-4 earnings · compare the same field and credential across colleges
Programs that stand out against the same-degree benchmark
This view rewards performance relative to the same field and credential, not simply majors that pay more everywhere.
1Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and InspectionUndergraduate Certificate or Diploma · $52,832 reported+26%vs same-degree national medianNot availablefederal debt2Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing AssistantsUndergraduate Certificate or Diploma · $64,787 reported+16%vs same-degree national median$10,102federal debt3Social WorkAssociate's Degree · $44,990 reported+14%vs same-degree national median$10,550federal debt4Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment ProfessionsAssociate's Degree · $66,687 reported+2%vs same-degree national median$12,349federal debt5Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and HumanitiesAssociate's Degree · $39,191 reported-11%vs same-degree national median$11,000federal debt6Criminal Justice and CorrectionsAssociate's Degree · $41,284 reported-12%vs same-degree national median$8,000federal debt
Comparable colleges in TX
Currently operating public institutions with the closest combination of annual net price and observed year-5 earnings. Similarity is descriptive, not a quality ranking.
Dallas, TX
Dallas College
- Annual net price
- $3,214
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $49,554
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -76%
Amarillo College
- Annual net price
- $4,600
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $49,187
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -79%
Tarrant County College District
- Annual net price
- $4,337
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $48,271
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -83%
Texas A&M International University
- Annual net price
- $3,637
- Observed earnings · year 5
- $51,461
- Modeled 10-year ROI
- -67%
Compare fields and degree levels
Showing all 10 field-and-degree records in the current release.
| Major or field | Degree level | Earnings, year 4 | Federal debt | 2024–25 graduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions | Associate's Degree | $66,687 | $12,349 | Not reported |
| Practical Nursing, Vocational Nursing and Nursing Assistants | Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma | $64,787 | $10,102 | 10 |
| Building/Construction Finishing, Management, and Inspection | Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma | $52,832 | Not available | 16 |
| Social Work | Associate's Degree | $44,990 | $10,550 | Not reported |
| Business/Commerce, General | Associate's Degree | $41,614 | $10,655 | Not reported |
| Criminal Justice and Corrections | Associate's Degree | $41,284 | $8,000 | Not reported |
| Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities | Associate's Degree | $39,191 | $11,000 | Not reported |
| Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Technologies/Technicians | Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma | $37,743 | Not available | 3 |
| Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Levels and Methods | Associate's Degree | $27,445 | $7,750 | Not reported |
| Human Development, Family Studies, and Related Services | Undergraduate Certificate or Diploma | $26,009 | Not available | 4 |
Graduate counts come from IPEDS and group related majors into the same federal field. Missing earnings or debt values remain labeled as unavailable.
Earnings, price, completion and enrollment are observed federal measures. ROI, payoff and break-even are modeled scenarios built from those measures and fixed assumptions. College payoff is not the payoff of every degree at this school; use the program table for a more precise comparison.