A parent's read

  • The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 5× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$24,060/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$51,450/yr) still runs about 5× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
  • Built for the AI economy. About 1 in 12 degrees here is already in AI, computer science, or data fields. This campus is leaning into the shift, not waiting for it.
  • Worth asking: do students finish? Only 42% graduate within six years here — the standard federal measure. Ask what drives that: course availability, transfers out, students working long hours. Not finishing is the costliest outcome there is.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

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Odds at Texas A&M University-Kingsville

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Live odds from each college's own published admissions data.

Parent/student verdict

Accessible

Accessible for most applicants. Affordable — net price averages ~$12,090/yr among aid recipients. Major value play for in-state residents.

Best for

  • In-state residents (tuition ~$9,892 — major value play)
  • Students focused on Engineering (the school's signature program)
  • Research-curious students (R2 — active research output)

The reality

  • You'd be near the bottom of their admitted class if: SAT below 980 (test bands are the school's own; the GPA floor is our estimate, not a published figure)
  • Out-of-state tuition is 2.6× the in-state rate

Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price with aid and at full price, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.

What are your child's odds here?

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Weighted is the higher GPA, with honors/AP credit in it — pick whichever your school reports. PSAT scores work in the SAT box.

Institutional snapshot

What kind of college is this?

Carnegie classification
R2: Doctoral - High Research Activity
Undergraduates
4,748
5,000 - 9,999 including graduate students
In-state tuitionThe published full price before any aid. Families who don't qualify for need-based aid at a given college pay this, minus any merit scholarships — whether you qualify depends on the college's price and policies, not on any fixed income line.
$9,892
sticker, before aid
Out-of-state tuition
$25,746
+$15,854 vs in-state
Admit rateThe share of applicants a college accepts. Useful context, but your student's odds depend on their own grades and scores, not the average.
92.3%
Accepts the majority
SAT middle 50%The middle half of the enrolled first-years who sent this test scored in this range — a quarter of them scored BELOW the low end and still got in, and a quarter scored above the high end. At a test-optional college the students who submitted are often a minority of the class, so the range describes them rather than everyone who enrolled. Above the top number is a genuine strength; below the bottom isn't automatic rejection.
980–1160
EBRW + Math composite
Test policyApplicants choose whether to send SAT/ACT scores. At many such colleges, students who submit strong scores are still admitted at higher rates.
Test-optional
2023
10-yr earningsMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$51,450
median, after entry

1% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.

Source: federal IPEDS Admissions 2023 for scores + admit rate; federal College Scorecard (20260606 vintage) for earnings + outcomes. SAT/ACT bands are the 25th–75th percentile of enrolled submitters.

Outcomes & cost

What graduates actually earn, finish, and owe.

Federal College Scorecard data. Earnings are median annual income measured years after entering. Debt is for federal-aid borrowers only (cash-pay students aren't counted).

Earnings, 6 yrs after entry
$44,882
Earnings, 10 yrs after entryMedian yearly pay of former students ten years after they STARTED here — not ten years after graduating — all majors combined. The broadest single outcome number a college reports.
$51,450
Graduate within 6 yrsThe share of students who start here and finish a bachelor's within six years — the standard federal measure, and the one College Scorecard publishes. It is not a four-year rate. Read it as the odds of finishing at all: nationally about a third of students who start never do, and an unfinished degree is the most expensive outcome in this decision.
42%
Median debt (completers)The federal-loan balance of the typical graduating borrower. Families who pay cash aren't counted, so read it as "among those who borrowed."
$22,934

The real cost

What Texas A&M University-Kingsville actually costs

If you qualify for need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats.
$12,090/yr
average among aid-receiving families, all incomes — your number depends on your finances
If you don't
$24,060/yr
the full published price for in-state students — out-of-state runs higher

Which side your family lands on isn't set by any national income line — it's set by Texas A&M University-Kingsville's own aid decision: the gap between its price and your family's finances.

Get your family's number — Texas A&M University-Kingsville's Net Price Calculator ↗ 10–15 minutes; have a tax return handy. It's still an estimate — but it's this college's own, built from your family's numbers, not anyone's average.
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Your odds + estimated cost across your whole college list, side by side.

The payoffTen years of typical graduate pay minus four years of cost — how many dollars ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten. Check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you; median pay reflects who a college admits and what they study as much as the college itself., both ways

+$418K ahead at full price +$466K with aid
Full price, no aidThe all-in yearly price — tuition, housing, food, books, fees — before any aid. This is the real "full price," not just the tuition line. (4 yrs, in-state)
$96,240
~$24,060/yr all-in (out-of-state runs higher)
Aid recipients pay (4 yrs)
$48,360
$12,090/yr average
10-yr earnings total
$514,500
$51,450/yr median, 10 yrs out
Years to recoup the cost
1.9 yrs
at full price (0.9 with aid), at the median earnings rate

Source: College Scorecard (average net price among Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates who received aid) and each college's published cost of attendance. We don't show the federal net-price-by-income brackets: their categories were fixed in 2008 and never adjusted, and none of the averages is your family's own number — the full story. Payoff = (10-yr median earnings × 10) − (4 years of cost), in dollars — how far ahead a typical graduate runs by year ten; medians travel with the students a college admits and the majors they choose as much as with the college itself. Full price is the published cost of attendance, largely in-state for publics; earnings are 10 years after enrollment, all majors combined.

What students study here

Most popular majors at Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Texas A&M University-Kingsville actually graduates — not just what it markets.

1. Engineering
213 degrees · 45.3%
Engineering majors land high-paying technical roles. Top-earning sub-disciplines: petroleum, chemical, computer engineering.
2. Agriculture
89 degrees · 18.9%
Farm management, food science, ag-business operations. Wide range based on path.
3. Business, Management, & Marketing
73 degrees · 15.5%
Broad set of corporate roles. Finance + consulting pay top, accounting + HR pay middle, sales spread is wide.
4. Education
49 degrees · 10.4%
Teaching is the largest path. Salary depends heavily on district + state.
5. Biological & Biomedical Sciences
46 degrees · 9.8%
Many bio majors → med school / grad school. Direct-employment bio roles are lower-paid than that pipeline.

What those majors earn here

Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Texas A&M University-Kingsville's own graduates, not national averages.

Major (CIP) Credential Cohort 1-yr earnings 4-yr earnings
Chemical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 29 $55,622 $97,811
Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 20 $77,971 $94,810
Mechanical Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 55 $56,135 $88,830
Petroleum Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 9 $43,257 $77,469
Civil Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 62 $66,429 $75,033
Industrial Production Technologies/Technicians. Bachelor's Degree 29 $50,039 $71,207
Architectural Engineering. Bachelor's Degree 19 $55,459 $70,912
Marketing. Bachelor's Degree 11 $32,084 $64,558
Agriculture, General. Bachelor's Degree 26 $41,646 $58,245
Accounting and Related Services. Bachelor's Degree 25 $41,047 $57,677

Sources: IPEDS Completions (C2023_a; bachelor's-level first majors, 2-digit CIP family — share is of the top 5 only) · College Scorecard program-level outcomes (PP-FOS). Full college-vs-major comparison: /college-outcomes →

Student body & economic mobility

Who attends here — and what the campus adds.

Opportunity Insights data. It measures two things at once: how many lower-income students a college enrols, and how many of them reach the top earnings quintile later. A high rate says the college does both — it does not establish that the campus caused the earnings, because the students it admits differ from the students it doesn't. Read it as a signal about access and destination, not as proof of value added.

Top-1% access
0.3%
from top-1% households
Mobility rateThe share of ALL students who arrived from the bottom 20% of family incomes AND reached the top 20% themselves by their early 30s — access and lift in one number, and a sign the campus itself adds earnings power.
5.3%
bottom 20% → top 20% by age 32
Upward rate
20.8%
of lower-income students who reach the top 20%
Pell recipientsStudents receiving federal Pell grants, which go to lower- and middle-income families — the standard shorthand for a college's economic mix.
53%
on federal need grants — context for these numbers

Full leaderboards: /college-mobility →

Alternatives to Texas A&M University-Kingsville

Matched not just by selectivity, but by strategic goal — what a family actually decides on.

Better merit-aid options
These similar-selectivity schools publish merit scholarships your family can plan around — your kid’s stats could unlock real scholarship dollars.
Texas Tech University
TX · Public
30 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
Mississippi State University
MS · Public
18 stats-based + 1 competitive scholarships
University of Alabama at Birmingham
AL · Public
17 stats-based + 2 competitive scholarships
Lower full price
Similar selectivity, but a meaningfully lower full sticker price — the comparison that matters most for families who won't qualify for much need-based aid.
United States Merchant Marine Academy
NY · Public
$9,168/yr full price (in-state) · $14,892 less before aid for NY residents
Indiana University-Kokomo
IN · Public
$11,837/yr full price (in-state) · $12,223 less before aid for IN residents
Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College
GA · Public
$13,956/yr full price (in-state) · $10,104 less before aid for GA residents
More students move up here
Per Opportunity Insights, a larger share of these campuses' lower-income students reach the top earnings quintile than at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. That reflects who they admit as well as what they do, so read it as a destination signal rather than proof of value added.
CUNY Lehman College
NY · Public
10.2% mobility rate (vs 5.3% here)
CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice
NY · Public
9.7% mobility rate (vs 5.3% here)
MCPHS University
MA · Private nonprofit
9.3% mobility rate (vs 5.3% here)

Or compare any college side-by-side

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At a glance

JSON · Using this page with an AI assistant

Texas A&M University-Kingsville is a public four-year college in TX. It admitted 92% of applicants (7,915 applied, 2023). Test policy: Test-optional.

Middle 50% of enrolled first-years who submitted that test: SAT 980–1160. 1% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score — this range describes students who submitted, not the whole class.

Cost: about $12,090 a year on average with aid, $24,060 a year at full price for in-state students.

Median earnings ten years after entry: $51,450 a year. Payoff, meaning ten years of that pay minus four years of cost: $466,140 ahead with aid, $418,260 ahead at full price.

Highest median earnings four years after the degree, by program: Chemical Engineering ($97,811); Electrical, Electronics, and Communications Engineering ($94,810); Mechanical Engineering ($88,830).

Economic mobility (Opportunity Insights): 25% of students came from families in the bottom fifth of income, and 21% of those reached the top fifth as adults.

Machine-readable version of this page: https://highschoolreach.com/colleges/texas-a-and-m-university-kingsville.json

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