🎓 College profile
Towson University
MD · Public · Small city · 18,948 applicants 2023
🧭 A parent's read
- The major moves the money more than the admit letter. Computer Science grads from here earn about $104,653 four years out; music grads about $36,285 — a 2.9× spread on the same diploma. Have the major conversation before you deposit, not after.
- The payoff holds even at full price: roughly 6× over a decade. With no aid at all — the full in-state ~$28,535/yr — a decade of median earnings (~$64,390/yr) still runs about 6× the four-year cost. This payoff doesn't depend on qualifying for anything. (Out-of-state costs more.)
- Ask the submit question deliberately. This college is test-optional — but at many such colleges, applicants who submit strong scores are admitted at meaningfully higher rates. “Optional” is a strategy decision, not a pass.
Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.
🎯 Parent/student verdict
LikelyAccessible for most applicants. Affordable for in-state families — net price averages ~$17,413/yr. Major value play for in-state residents.
✅ Best for
- Solid academic profiles — the admitted-student bands above are within reach for strong students
- In-state residents (tuition ~$11,728 — major value play)
🎯 The reality
- Bottom-quartile academic profile if: SAT below 1050, or ACT below 19, or unweighted GPA below ~3.50 (admitted-class quartiles; GPA floor is a calibrated heuristic where CDS not yet on file)
- Out-of-state tuition is 2.5× the in-state rate
Verdict is composed from this college's structured data (admit rate, SAT bands, net price by income, Carnegie classification, scholarship grids) using transparent rule thresholds — not a chat-bot's opinion.
🏛️ Institutional snapshot
What kind of college is this?
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).
💰 The real cost
What families at your income actually pay
Above $110K income — where most Reach families sit — aid-receiving families average $26,396/yr at Towson University; families who don't qualify for aid pay the full ~$28,535/yr. Lower brackets pay less — the full ladder is below. One caveat, once: every bracket figure here averages only the families in that bracket who received aid — it says nothing about whether your family will qualify.
🔎 Earning over $110K? You're above the top federal bracket — the median family headed by a 45-to-54-year-old (the prime college-parent years) earned about $134K in 2024, and the federal data lumps everyone from $110K to $1M+ into one row.
Whether you'll get need aidGrant money based on your family's finances (via FAFSA and the college's own forms), not your student's stats. at this income is entirely college-specific: a few heavily-endowed schools meet full need well past $150K, while many others give little above the brackets shown — there, merit scholarships, where offered, become the realistic lever.
Start your Family Decision Report →Your odds + estimated net price across your whole college list — then confirm the exact figure with Towson University's own Net Price Calculator ↗ (10–15 min; have your tax return handy).
📈 The payoffTen years of typical earnings divided by four years of cost. A 3× means a decade of median pay covers the cost three times over — check both the full-price and with-aid versions to see which applies to you., both ways
5.6× at full price 9.2× with aidSource: College Scorecard (NPT41–NPT45; Title IV first-time, full-time undergraduates; suppressed brackets = small cohorts; the $110K+ ceiling is a federal data limitation — the brackets haven't been refreshed since the early 2010s). Payoff multiple = (10-yr median earnings × 10) ÷ (4-yr cost); 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 Towson University
Top 5 fields of study by bachelor's degrees awarded (most recent IPEDS Completions). Use this to see what Towson University actually graduates — not just what it markets.
💼 What those majors earn here
Median earnings 4 years after entry, by major — Towson University's own graduates, not national averages.
| Major (CIP) | 4-yr earnings |
|---|---|
| Computer Science. | $104,653 |
| Accounting and Related Services. | $91,252 |
| Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing. | $91,044 |
| Physics. | $90,457 |
| Business Administration, Management and Operations. | $78,497 |
| Rehabilitation and Therapeutic Professions. | $77,953 |
| Economics. | $76,509 |
| Chemistry. | $76,296 |
| Computer and Information Sciences, General. | $75,785 |
| Mathematics. | $72,409 |
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 →
🤖 AI program signal
AI + computing education at Towson University
Full multi-lens comparison: /ai-colleges →
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