pay day

This Texas university pays best for new graduates, says new report

That college diploma ain't cheap.

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If you're looking for a Texas college or university where your education will come with an impressive paycheck, you'll have to look outside of Dallas, and down to Houston.

A new study from personal financial website SmartAsset shows the average starting salary for a newly minted Rice University graduate with a bachelor's degree stands at $72,400.

No other college or university in Texas passes the $70,000 mark for starting salaries.

Two Dallas-area universities do make the top 10 in Texas: SMU lands at No. 5, with a starting salary of $60,600. The University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson ranks No. 8, with a starting salary of $58,900.

A report from PayScale.com indicates the $72,400 average salary for a Rice grad ranks 39th in the nation. Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, claims the No. 1 spot ($91,400).

The salary ranking is part of a broader SmartAsset study that examined five factors — scholarships and grants, tuition, student living costs, student retention rate, and starting salary — to determine the best-value colleges and universities in Texas. Rice also appears at No. 1 on that list.

"Rice is frequently rated as one of the nation's best values among private schools because its tuition tends to be lower than its peer research universities," the school noted in a March news release, "and its financial aid policies are regularly reviewed to keep its exceptional education affordable to students from a wide variety of cultural and economic backgrounds."

Here's the list of the top 10 schools in Texas for starting salaries of new grads:

Rice University in Houston, $72,400
University of Texas at Austin, $62,100
Texas A&M University in College Station, $61,200
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, $60,800
Southern Methodist University in Dallas, $60,600
LeTourneau University in Longview, $59,900
Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, $59,500
University of Texas at Dallas in Richardson, $58,900
Texas Tech University in Lubbock, $57,600
University of Houston, $57,500

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Continue reading this story on our sister site, InnovationMap.

colleges

beyond the stacks

Texas public libraries deliver billions in economic impact, study says

dallaslibrary.org/

Dallas shines a lot brighter with its public library system.

A new statewide study examining the economic impacts of public libraries has revealed they have generated over $3.8 billion in value to local communities — a return of $4.74 for every $1 invested.

The report, "Beyond the Stacks: Measuring the Economic and Community Value of Texas Public Libraries" was conducted by third-party consultancy JBK Economics Group in partnership with the Texas Library Association. About 300 of the total 513 public libraries in Texas participated in a survey for the report.

A major finding from the survey revealed that public libraries create billions in economic value for the communities they serve at a fraction of what it costs to pay employee wages and benefits, operating expenditures, and capital expenditures. About 11,200 jobs were directly and indirectly supported by public libraries, the report found.

The report found its $4.74 to $1 ratio by adding up the total value of the services provided by these institutions (an estimated $2.48 billion), and comparing it to total expenditures ($808.6 million).

"Public libraries had about the same economic footprint as the Texas motion picture and sound recording industry ($2.9 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024) or the Texas paper manufacturing industry ($4.0 billion in Gross Domestic Product in 2024)," the report said.

Many Dallasites are already familiar with Dallas Public Library's expansive catalog and programming, but there are many more services the library provides that might fly under the radar. A few examples include access to subscription-based research databases and news outlets, free notary services, free admission to local arts and culture events through Culture Pass Dallas, seed libraries, and maker spaces for creative endeavors. Individual branches also provide free Wi-Fi, computer access, meeting spaces, tax assistance, and job help.

Residents outside Dallas also have access to services at several other local libraries, depending on their address. For instance, Plano Public Library offers free cards to residents and for residents in reciprocal cities like Allen, The Colony, Frisco, Garland, McKinney, Richardson, and Wylie.

These are additional services and partnerships that Texas public libraries commonly provide, per the survey results:

93 percent provide voter registration and/or serve as voting locations
84 percent provide partnerships with local social services agencies
82 percent provide job application assistance
68 percent facilitate applications for government benefits
38 percent provide on-site social services
30 percent provide telehealth rooms and/or resources

"Public libraries are practical, welcoming and rooted in the communities they serve — they are unmistakably Texan," said Texas Library Association executive director Shirley Robinson in a press release. "This study puts a dollar value on the opportunities libraries create every day. Whether someone visits a library to apply for a job, access the internet, learn a new skill or simply find a new favorite book, those services create real value for Texans and their communities."

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