Best Information Technology Degree Programs in Texas, 2026 Rankings

Verdict: Texas IT students benefit from the standard Texas state aid stack (TEXAS Grant, TEG, Top 10% Scholarship, UT Austin Texas Advance Commitment) plus the substantial Texas IT operations employment market, Capital One Plano IT, USAA IT (San Antonio + Plano), AT&T IT, Toyota North America IT (Plano), Charles Schwab IT (Westlake), Dell IT (Round Rock), Apple Austin IT, Tesla IT, plus the substantial Texas oil and gas IT operations (ExxonMobil IT, SLB/Schlumberger IT, ConocoPhillips IT, Halliburton IT), plus Texas state and local government IT, plus substantial Texas healthcare IT (HCA Healthcare, Memorial Hermann, Texas Children's, Houston Methodist). Combined with no state income tax, Texas IT take-home compensation regularly exceeds equivalent California roles despite lower nominal salaries.

TEXAS Grant (up to ~$5,195/year for need-based in-state students) and Top 10% Scholarship (automatic for Texas HS grads in top 10%, $2,000/year + guaranteed admission to most Texas publics) stack with federal Pell. UT Austin's Texas Advance Commitment (free tuition for Pell-eligible Texas residents) makes UT Austin IT-track programs strong financial value propositions.

Texas's IT-specific institutional aid is concentrated at: University of Texas at Austin School of Information with substantial IT programs and direct Austin tech industry placement. University of Texas at Dallas with substantial IT programs and DFW industry placement. University of North Texas (UNT) has substantial IT programs at affordable in-state tuition. Texas A&M University-Commerce has accessible IT programs. Texas State University (San Marcos) has growing IT programs. University of Houston has substantial IT programs with Houston oil-and-gas IT industry placement. The Texas community college IT certification + AAS-IT degree programs at Collin College, Houston Community College (HCC), Austin Community College (ACC), Dallas College, Lone Star College, and San Jacinto College provide substantial IT credentialing pathways with direct industry alignment.

Industry-track scholarships and tuition reimbursement from Texas-based IT employers, Capital One Plano IT (substantial enterprise IT operations supporting Capital One's substantial banking infrastructure), USAA IT (San Antonio + Plano, one of the largest US insurance IT operations), AT&T IT (Dallas, one of the largest US telecom IT operations), Toyota North America IT (Plano), Charles Schwab IT (Westlake), Dell IT (Round Rock), Apple Austin IT, Tesla IT (substantial vehicle production IT + Tesla Energy IT), Oracle Austin IT, Indeed IT, IBM Austin IT, plus the substantial Texas oil-and-gas IT employers (ExxonMobil IT Houston, one of the larger US energy-industry IT operations, SLB/Schlumberger IT, ConocoPhillips IT, Halliburton IT, Chevron Houston IT), plus the substantial Texas state IT (Department of Information Resources) operations, provide additional funding most students don't pursue.

Use our interactive ROI calculator to estimate your return on investment for a information technology degree in Texas. Enter your expected tuition costs, financial aid, and career goals to see projected payback periods and lifetime earnings. The calculator uses current salary data from BLS and tuition data from IPEDS to provide accurate estimates.

Data sources: BLS OEWS May 2024, IPEDS 2024. Calculations use median salaries, 3% discount rate, and assume salary growth declines from 6% to 2% over career. Individual results will vary. | Powered by Hakia.com

Verdict: Texas's Common Course Numbering System (TCCNS) supports IT-track transfer pathways well, substantially more accessible than CS-track admission at most Texas 4-year institutions, often 40-70% for qualified transfer applicants, and Texas community college IT certification programs are unusually well-aligned with Capital One Plano IT, USAA IT, AT&T IT, and oil-and-gas IT operations hiring.

Best Texas community college IT-track-feeder schools: Collin College (Plano, strong UT Dallas pipeline with refined IT certification + AAS-IT programs aligned to Capital One Plano IT, USAA IT, and Toyota North America IT for direct industry exposure during community college years), Houston Community College (HCC) (largest IT-track enrollment in Texas, strong University of Houston and oil-and-gas IT industry placement), Austin Community College (ACC) (well-established UT Austin and Texas State articulation, geographically positioned for direct Austin tech and Apple Austin IT / Tesla IT exposure), Dallas College (DFW area, strong UT Dallas, UT Arlington, and Texas A&M-Commerce IT transfer pipelines), Lone Star College (suburban Houston, strong UH and oil-and-gas IT pipeline), and San Jacinto College (Houston metro, strong oil-and-gas IT industry placement). Each has refined IT certification + intro-CS sequences via TCCNS articulation.

The Collin College → UT Dallas IT-track pathway is one of the most reliable Texas IT progressions, Collin is geographically adjacent to Capital One Plano, USAA Plano, and Toyota North America IT, has refined IT certification + AAS-IT programs, and produces graduates well-placed into substantial DFW enterprise IT operations. The HCC → University of Houston IT pathway is the most reliable Houston-area IT progression with substantial oil-and-gas IT industry placement. The ACC → UT Austin School of Information IT pathway is the strong Austin-area optimization with substantial Austin tech industry placement.

Beyond UT Dallas IT: UT Austin School of Information has substantial IT programs with strong Austin tech industry placement. University of Houston has substantial IT programs with Houston oil-and-gas IT placement. University of North Texas (UNT) has substantial IT programs at affordable in-state tuition. Texas A&M University-Commerce has accessible IT programs. Texas State University (San Marcos) has growing IT programs with substantial Austin-metro industry placement. Texas Tech University has IT programs. For Texas IT-track students, the UT Dallas pathway is the strong DFW industry optimization; UT Austin School of Information is the Austin-area optimization; UH is the Houston oil-and-gas IT optimization; UNT is the affordable DFW alternative; Texas State is the affordable Austin-metro alternative.

Verdict: Texas has one of the largest US Information Technology job markets, substantially driven by Capital One Plano IT, USAA IT (San Antonio + Plano), AT&T IT (Dallas), Apple Austin IT, Tesla IT, plus the substantial Texas oil-and-gas IT operations (ExxonMobil IT Houston, one of the larger US energy-industry IT operations, SLB/Schlumberger IT, ConocoPhillips IT, Halliburton IT, Chevron Houston IT, plus the substantial Houston energy-services IT industry), plus substantial Texas healthcare IT (HCA Healthcare, Memorial Hermann, Texas Children's, Houston Methodist), plus substantial Texas state and local government IT. Combined with no state income tax, Texas IT take-home compensation regularly exceeds equivalent California roles.

By metro: Austin averages ~$90,000-$140,000 for IT support and systems administration roles with senior IT roles regularly $125,000-$185,000+. Apple Austin IT is the substantial employer (one of Apple's larger US enterprise IT operations outside Cupertino), Tesla IT (substantial vehicle production IT + Tesla Energy IT + Tesla Gigafactory Texas IT), Oracle Austin IT, Indeed IT, Dell IT (Round Rock), IBM Austin IT, Cisco Austin IT, plus the growing Austin tech IT operations industry. Dallas-Fort Worth averages ~$85,000-$130,000 with Capital One Plano IT as the substantial employer (substantial enterprise IT operations supporting Capital One's substantial banking infrastructure across credit-card systems, retail banking, commercial banking). USAA Plano IT (combined with San Antonio operations is one of the largest US insurance IT operations). Toyota North America IT (Plano). AT&T IT (Dallas, one of the largest US telecom IT operations). Charles Schwab IT (Westlake). American Airlines IT (Fort Worth, substantial airline operations IT).

Houston averages ~$80,000-$125,000 with ExxonMobil IT as the substantial employer (one of the larger US energy-industry IT operations supporting ExxonMobil's substantial global energy operations). SLB/Schlumberger IT, ConocoPhillips IT, Halliburton IT, Chevron Houston IT, BP Houston IT for energy-industry IT operations. NASA Johnson Space Center IT (substantial cleared aerospace IT operations supporting space-flight operations). Houston Medical Center IT (Texas Medical Center is one of the largest medical complexes in the world, substantial healthcare IT employment at Memorial Hermann, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson Cancer Center IT, Texas Children's IT). San Antonio averages ~$75,000-$115,000 with USAA IT as the substantial employer + Rackspace IT + CPS Energy IT + plus growing San Antonio cybersecurity-IT cluster (Lackland AFB cyber operations, NSA Texas).

Three Texas IT-specific dynamics: (1) Capital One Plano IT's substantial enterprise IT organization is one of the most-overlooked elite US enterprise IT destinations, comparable to Big Tech IT in technical depth and compensation, but with substantially more accessible new-graduate hiring than Bay Area enterprise IT. (2) Texas oil-and-gas IT operations provide one of the most-stable US IT employment sectors, ExxonMobil IT, SLB/Schlumberger IT, ConocoPhillips IT collectively employ tens of thousands of IT professionals with substantial career stability through economic cycles. (3) Texas IT roles substantially reward stacked certifications layered with degrees, CompTIA Security+ + AWS/Azure certification stacks + ITIL Foundation + Cisco CCNA stacks often produce $15,000-$40,000+ Texas IT salary premium over equivalent uncertified IT roles. See IT Support Specialist Career Guide and Systems Administrator Career Guide.

Last Updated: June 26, 2026. Rankings based on IPEDS 2024 data. Salary data from BLS OEWS May 2024.