A comparison of historical and projected university data indicates that rising out-of-state tuition rates are increasing financial barriers for non-resident students at Texas institutions.
While state leadership has utilized legislative tuition freezes to maintain affordability for resident undergraduates, out-of-state sticker prices have risen substantially over the past 15 years.
Non-resident undergraduate costs at Texas institutions have experienced a steady upward trajectory. For example, out-of-state tuition and mandatory fees at Texas A&M University grew from $22,470 in 2010 to a projected $39,496 for the 2026–2027 cycle.
Higher education researchers note that these costs impact the recruitment of “future Texans”; tracking records from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) indicate that approximately 68% of public university graduates remain to work in Texas, while a University of Texas System workforce analysis verified that 59% of trackable former UT students are actively employed in the state.
The financial gap between resident and non-resident students has widened across the some of the state’s major public institutions. For the University of Texas at Austin, out-of-state tuition is projected at $37,138 while resident tuition is held at $11,800. Similar trends are evident at the University of Houston, where non-resident tuition rose from $17,453 to $27,000, and at Texas State University, where out-of-state rates climbed from $16,720 to $25,080.
A study published in the SSRN Electronic Journal by Levine, Ma, and Russell (2020) noted that out-of-state tuition costs at public institutions are not adjusted for internal costs but are frequently indexed to nonresident tuition in other highly populous states, like California, New York, or Florida.
A policy report from the nonpartisan group Texas 2036 identified affordability and value-perception as primary constraints on the state’s higher education pipeline. This dynamic stands in contrast to private institutions like Rice University, which charges a uniform sticker price of $62,800 for both in-state and out-of-state students, utilizing institutional aid programs to offset costs for lower- and middle-income families.
“By measuring the percentage of graduates who remain to work in the state after graduation, a state can see which campuses and programs are contributing the most toward improving the economic prospects of state residents,” higher education researcher Mark Schneider noted in a baseline workforce alignment brief.
“Attracting out-of-state students is an essential economic strategy because a significant portion of them choose to establish their careers right here after graduation,” higher education analyst Mark Schneider further explained in that report, adding that when rising tuition costs price out non-resident talent, Texas misses a prime opportunity to seed its high-paying industries with future taxpayers and economic contributors.