Private Texas colleges are raising tuition next year
A difficult economic outlook has forced several Texas universities to increase tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year, after many institutions around the country tried to hold their rates relatively flat during the pandemic.
Rice University, Texas Christian University and Baylor University are among the private institutions that have raised undergraduate rates. The University of Houston System is also allowing tuition increases of up to 5% for out-of-state undergraduates and all graduate students, although no rates have been set.
“Inflation and the impacts on labor and the costs of goods and services, certainly, are continuing to be felt,” UH Senior Vice Chancellor Raymond Bartlett said at a UH System board of regents meeting in February. “While we continue to focus on efficiencies and business processes to try to hold down the passing on of costs, the fact is there becomes necessary at some point for us to be able to pass on some of the cost.”
The increases could be a sign of what’s to come after years of steadier tuition rates prompted by the pandemic, said David H. Feldman, professor of economics at William & Mary. Many colleges and universities opted to keep tuition flat around 2021, but cuts made to offset the loss in revenue are starting to hit a breaking point for some of those schools, Feldman said.
“There’s a lot of pent-up needs, and in all likelihood, the cost of tuition is going to creep back up,” he said.
Most Texas public university systems have yet to set tuition rates, although in-state undergraduate tuition should not increase when the boards next meet in May — the result of a deal brokered in the Legislature to freeze their rates for two years in exchange for more state funding. Out-of-state undergraduates and all graduate students were not part of the agreement.
Budget cuts and the freeze on in-state undergraduate tuition played a role in prompting UH to allow a tuition increase for nonresident undergraduates and graduate students, Barlett said at the February meeting. While the specific amounts have not been finalized, nonresident undergraduates at the main campus could see their tuition climb next year by a maximum of $372 to $480 a semester, depending on the program, according to UH board documents.
Student housing could also increase by up to 5%, and meal plan rates could increase by 5.4% for residential students and 5.8% for commuter students, costs that can add up quickly for families.
Private university tuition increases are across the board, appearing larger because of higher base tuition amounts. At Rice, the sticker price for first-year students in 2024-2025 will increase to $62,874, up from $57,210. Tuition for continuing students will be $59,784.
Fees and on-campus housing will bring the total cost to $81,893 for first-year students and $78,803 for continuing students. Sticker prices are deceptive: Rice awards are loan-free, and twothirds of undergraduates will not pay full price because they receive need-based and merit aid, university officials said. (The average first-year aid offer in fall 2022 was $59,000.)
Rice is expected to offer a record $160 million in financial aid next year, up from $150 million last year.
“Generous financial aid packages will continue to play a pivotal role in ensuring that the doors to a world-class Rice education remain open to all deserving students,” Rice Vice President for Enrollment Yvonne Romero da Silva said in a news release.
Tuition will again increase in the 2025-2026 academic year, to $66,540 for first and second-year students and $62,474 for upperclassmen, according to the university.
At Baylor University, undergraduate tuition will increase 6% next year to $58,100, up from $54,844, school officials said. Similar to Rice, most students at Baylor don’t pay the sticker price: About 90% of students receive financial aid, and 86% receive merit scholarships.
Texas Christian University’s undergraduate tuition increase amounted to 7.9%, landing at $61,650. Estimated housing, food and book costs bring the total to $79,240, according to the university.