Bachelor's · Birmingham, Alabama

Is Computer and Information Sciences, General at University of Alabama at Birmingham worth it?

Medium confidence Medium confidence: 40–99 graduates behind the earnings figures.

The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans

Pays back fast: graduates typically recover the cost in about 1.8 years.

Earnings 1 year after graduating: $78,803; Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Earnings 4 years after graduating: $112,411; Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
Typical federal debt at graduation: $18,500; NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
Net cost to graduate, all families: $66k (likely $66k – $88k); AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
Earnings bump, year 4: $78k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in AL; 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
Payback: 1.8 years (likely 1.5–2.2); Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
10-year net return: $518k (likely $389k – $644k); Today's dollars
20-year net return: $1.44M (likely $1.15M – $1.73M); Today's dollars
Odds of finishing (school-wide): 66%; Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26