Texas
Source: IPEDS Completions, 3-yr avg AY 2022–25 (NCES; 2024–25 provisional), bachelor’s degrees, CIP 14 + 11; China 33.2%: PRC Ministry of Education, 2022 bachelor’s graduates by discipline (NSF NCSES S&E Indicators Fig. HED-30: 32.8%, 2020); Population: Census NST-EST2025.
Texas at China’s rate would graduate 48,081 engineers a year. It graduates 17,650.
Texas produces 17,650 engineering and computer science bachelor's degrees a year out of 144,823 total, a mid-pack engineering producer, from 77 institutions. At China's rate it would produce 48,081. Output is growing (+11.1% over three years). Gap Score: 37% of the China benchmark. Its own economy is projected to open 50,660 engineering, computing and technician jobs a year through 2034; in-state degrees, associate and bachelor's together, cover 42% of them.
The gap against China’s benchmark
Three-year trend: eng+CS share of degrees
Texas is missing 30,431 engineers a year at China's rate, roughly 10x the annual output of Texas A&M University-College Station.
Where Texas’s engineers are made.
77 institutions produce engineering or computer science bachelor’s degrees in Texas. The top 8 account for 68% of output.
Every producing institution. Circle area = eng+CS bachelor’s degrees per year
Top producers
| # | Institution | Eng+CS / yr | % of its degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas A&M University-College Station | 2,973 | 21.7% |
| 2 | The University of Texas at Dallas | 1,865 | 36.2% |
| 3 | The University of Texas at Austin | 1,836 | 17.5% |
| 4 | University of Houston | 1,360 | 16.4% |
| 5 | The University of Texas at San Antonio | 1,175 | 19.6% |
| 6 | The University of Texas at Arlington | 1,030 | 14.1% |
| 7 | Texas Tech University | 979 | 13.6% |
| 8 | University of North Texas | 710 | 9.3% |
Jobs vs. degrees
Texas's own labor-market projection, 2024–2034, for engineers, computer occupations and engineering technicians, against the degrees the state produces at every level.
Openings against output
Where the openings are
| Occupation | Openings / yr |
|---|---|
| Software Developers | 11,170 |
| Computer Occupations, All Other | 4,710 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | 3,940 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | 3,610 |
| Civil Engineers | 2,520 |
| Industrial Engineers | 2,390 |
Coverage: degrees ÷ openings
Openings are the state labor agency’s own 10-year projection: new jobs plus replacing workers who retire or leave the field (BLS method). Not every opening goes to a new graduate, so this is a coverage measure; it does not count vacant positions. Occupations: engineers (SOC 17-2), computer occupations (SOC 15-12) and engineering technicians (SOC 17-3, the associate-degree tier), the jobs CIP 14 + 11 degrees feed; degrees here include associate degrees to match. Source: Texas labor-market projections via Projections Central (U.S. Dept. of Labor).
Texas wins the plants but imports the engineers
Texas has stacked its own CHIPS Act ($1.5B in 2023, including a $698.3M Semiconductor Innovation Fund since topped up to ~$950M) on top of federal awards to land fabs, AI-server plants and hyperscale data centers. The fund has awarded $574.7M to 32 projects tied to $10.4B in capital and 3,339 direct jobs, though only $35.3M had been paid out by August 2026, while the state's engineering pipeline covers well under half its openings.
The drain.
Texas imports much of its technical talent: more than half its labor-force growth comes from other states and countries, and that inflow is slowing just as the state freezes new H-1B petitions at public universities (Texas hosts 40,000+ H-1B workers).
Sources: Dallas Morning News (via Governing); CBRE; Texas Tribune
Who’s covering it.
Reporters already cover this, but no one has combined it into a single number the way the Index does.
The fix, in Texas.
Tie TSIF grants to Texas grads
The Semiconductor Innovation Fund has awarded $574.7M to 32 projects with no in-state hiring pipeline requirement. Condition future TSIF and JETI awards on funded Digital ROTC cohorts at nearby community colleges and universities, so Samsung, TI and Nvidia suppliers draw from Texas classrooms rather than transfers and visas.
Service-for-tuition at TSTC and ACC
Texas State Technical College is already expanding electrical and semiconductor tracks, and Austin Community College sits next to Taylor and Samsung's Austin fab. A service-for-tuition Digital ROTC contract, tuition covered in exchange for a service term at a Texas fab, data center or defense contractor, converts a 40% jobs coverage rate into locally sourced technicians and engineers.
Replace imported talent with retained talent
With domestic in-migration falling from 86,000 to 67,000 and new university H-1B petitions frozen through 2027, Texas can no longer count on importing its engineers. Retention bonuses and loan payoff for Texas A&M, UT and UTD engineering grads who commit to Texas employers would keep more of the state's largest-in-nation output in Texas.
What Digital ROTC would fund
Digital ROTC: federal student loans that cover two years of engineering, computer science, or cybersecurity school at a community college, whether those years end in an associate degree or transfer into a bachelor’s program. The loans are forgiven in full after 24 to 36 months of service in government technology roles. In Texas, 18% of engineering-track credentials are associate degrees today. Digital ROTC is built to expand that community-college route.