Affordability for Texas A&M University
Tuition and Fees
Average tuition and fees for 30 semester credit hours: $7,326
Median family income by region, by ethnicity.
| Region | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median Income | Percent T&F | Median Income | Percent T&F | Median Income | Percent T&F | Median Income | Percent T&F | Median Income | Percent T&F | Median Income | Percent T&F | |
| High Plains | $46,811 | 15.7% | $23,133 | 31.7% | $27,694 | 26.5% | $52,598 | 13.9% | $28,115 | 26.1% | $39,987 | 18.3% |
| Northwest | $41,423 | 17.7% | $25,405 | 28.8% | $26,442 | 27.7% | $38,308 | 19.1% | $26,569 | 27.6% | $37,693 | 19.4% |
| Metroplex | $65,041 | 11.3% | $36,594 | 20.0% | $34,976 | 20.9% | $61,260 | 12.0% | $36,291 | 20.2% | $54,032 | 13.6% |
| Upper East Texas | $43,743 | 16.7% | $24,903 | 29.4% | $27,999 | 26.2% | $51,327 | 14.3% | $30,080 | 24.4% | $39,700 | 18.5% |
| Southeast Texas | $44,397 | 16.5% | $24,739 | 29.6% | $31,914 | 23.0% | $44,345 | 16.5% | $31,873 | 23.0% | $39,615 | 18.5% |
| Gulf Coast | $67,885 | 10.8% | $35,211 | 20.8% | $33,398 | 21.9% | $56,901 | 12.9% | $33,860 | 21.6% | $50,955 | 14.4% |
| Central Texas | $58,189 | 12.6% | $33,184 | 22.1% | $36,874 | 19.9% | $57,789 | 12.7% | $35,577 | 20.6% | $49,907 | 14.7% |
| South Texas | $53,694 | 13.6% | $35,426 | 20.7% | $28,487 | 25.7% | $50,069 | 14.6% | $28,439 | 25.8% | $36,673 | 20.0% |
| West Texas | $47,399 | 15.5% | $24,815 | 29.5% | $27,378 | 26.8% | $47,765 | 15.3% | $27,609 | 26.5% | $38,073 | 19.2% |
| Upper Rio Grande | $55,051 | 13.3% | $41,124 | 17.8% | $28,320 | 25.9% | $44,521 | 16.5% | $28,470 | 25.7% | $33,588 | 21.8% |
| Statewide | $57,194 | 12.8% | $33,276 | 22.0% | $30,840 | 23.8% | $56,792 | 12.9% | $30,266 | 24.2% | $45,132 | 16.2% |
Undergraduate Students from in-state
| Region | White | Black | Hispanic | Asian | Other | Male | Female | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | Num | % | |
| High Plains | 496 | 1.4% | 3 | 0.0% | 29 | 0.1% | 7 | 0.0% | 8 | 0.0% | 313 | 0.9% | 230 | 0.6% | 543 | 1.5% |
| Northwest | 521 | 1.5% | 9 | 0.0% | 20 | 0.1% | 14 | 0.0% | 4 | 0.0% | 295 | 0.8% | 273 | 0.8% | 568 | 1.6% |
| Metroplex | 6,477 | 18.2% | 295 | 0.8% | 549 | 1.5% | 371 | 1.0% | 60 | 0.2% | 3,974 | 11.2% | 3,778 | 10.6% | 7,752 | 21.8% |
| Upper East Texas | 1,206 | 3.4% | 23 | 0.1% | 50 | 0.1% | 27 | 0.1% | 8 | 0.0% | 702 | 2.0% | 612 | 1.7% | 1,314 | 3.7% |
| Southeast Texas | 916 | 2.6% | 48 | 0.1% | 67 | 0.2% | 43 | 0.1% | 9 | 0.0% | 544 | 1.5% | 539 | 1.5% | 1,083 | 3.0% |
| Gulf Coast | 8,874 | 25.0% | 440 | 1.2% | 1,205 | 3.4% | 720 | 2.0% | 91 | 0.3% | 5,830 | 16.4% | 5,500 | 15.5% | 11,330 | 31.9% |
| Central Texas | 5,401 | 15.2% | 150 | 0.4% | 637 | 1.8% | 251 | 0.7% | 57 | 0.2% | 3,356 | 9.4% | 3,140 | 8.8% | 6,496 | 18.3% |
| South Texas | 3,578 | 10.1% | 63 | 0.2% | 1,884 | 5.3% | 129 | 0.4% | 35 | 0.1% | 2,934 | 8.3% | 2,755 | 7.8% | 5,689 | 16.0% |
| West Texas | 501 | 1.4% | 6 | 0.0% | 45 | 0.1% | 8 | 0.0% | 6 | 0.0% | 321 | 0.9% | 245 | 0.7% | 566 | 1.6% |
| Upper Rio Grande | 75 | 0.2% | 4 | 0.0% | 104 | 0.3% | 8 | 0.0% | 2 | 0.0% | 94 | 0.3% | 99 | 0.3% | 193 | 0.5% |
| Statewide | 28,045 | 78.9% | 1,041 | 2.9% | 4,590 | 12.9% | 1,578 | 4.4% | 280 | 0.8% | 18,363 | 51.7% | 17,171 | 48.3% | 35,534 | 100.0% |
Criteria for Admissions
- Top 10% of high school graduation class
- Academic record
- Socioeconomic background
- First-generation in college
- Bilingual proficiency
- Responsibilities while attending school
- Standardized test scores
- Community activities
- Extracurricular activities
- Other consideration necessary to accomplish institutional mission
Analysis of the Criteria used to admit students
All students admitted to Texas A&M University are chosen in a competitive process focused on individual achievement and potential. During its entire history as a land-grant institution, Texas A&M has maintained a national reputation for developing students to be leaders and to make substantial contributions to the larger society. This philosophy guides the admission process.
For fall 2008, all students will be admitted to Texas A&M in three categories: 1) Top 10% graduates from recognized Texas high schools are admitted by state statute; 2) Academic Admits who have at least 1300 on the SAT I (600 or better on both math and critical reading or 30 on the ACT and graduate in the top quarter of their class with college prep courses from a Texas high school; 3) Students admitted by individualized full-file review. Approximately two-thirds of the freshmen enter in categories 1 and 2 with the remainder coming from the review pool. The holistic review considers not only academic achievement but also extracurricular involvement, unusual experiences, special talents and skills, and leadership potential including evidence that the student has overcome adverse circumstances.
Texas A&M is firmly committed to serving all citizens of the state of Texas, and that commitment means putting additional energy into attracting and enrolling underrepresented students. Texas A&M is making new and substantial efforts to encourage underrepresented students to apply for admission to the University. For admitted underrepresented students, Texas A&M is undertaking significant endeavors to encourage them to enroll and become part of the Aggie family. These initiatives are showing results as enrollments demonstrate both in fall 2004 through fall 2008. Altough there are always variations in enrollments year on year, there have been significant increases in enrollment of African American and Hispanic freshmen during these years. As one example, in fall 2008, there were over 1314 Hispanic freshmen enrolled, the largest number ever at Texas A&M. These classes are also noteworthy with enrollment of approximately one quarter of the freshmen being first generation college students.
Criteria for Financial Aid
- First generation student status
- Financial need
- Merit (grades, GPA, performance, other)
- Enrollment in a specific major/discipline
- Enrollment at a specific level
- Enrollment in a specific number of hours
- Date of financial aid application (first-come; first-served)
- Expected family contribution
- Cost of attendance
Analysis of the criteria used to award financial aid
Texas A&M University is committed to providing financial resources to students to
enable them to pursue their educational goals. As part of this commitment, we strive to
provide financial solutions to all students. The need-based financial assistance program
is designed for all students who have a demonstrated financial need, as defined by the
Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), assisting them in meeting college
expenses. Financial aid has two forms: gift aid and self-help. Gift aid includes grants,
scholarships, and various waivers. Self-help includes federal, state, institutional, and
alternative loans, as well as college work study or regular student employment on
campus, internships, or assistantships. Our packaging philosophy for need-based
financial aid is to provide the greatest amount of gift aid to those students with the
highest demonstrated need and to keep loan liability to a minimum. Texas A&M
University participates in the following major federal Title IV programs: The Federal Pell
Grant, the Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG), the National Science and
Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART), the Federal Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work Study (including community
service and reading/math tutors), Federal Perkins Loan program, and the Federal
Stafford Loan Program (including Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students programs). Major state programs include the Towards
Excellence, Access and Success (TEXAS) grant, Texas College Work Study, and the BOn
Time Loan. In addition, funds have been set-aside from tuition (both state mandated
and designated) as required by statute. These set-asides fund the Texas Public
Education Grant, the Regents Scholarship program for low income, first generation
students, and grants to middle income students. In addition, Texas A&M has set-aside
funds above the mandated amount to meet the needs of students and create recruiting
scholarships designed to improve the diversity of our student population. Finally, Texas
A&M University annually awards a large number of competitive academic scholarships
to incoming freshmen and currently enrolled students with and without regard to
financial need. These scholarships recognize academic achievement, scholarly
promise, and leadership excellence.
Comparison of this institution to peer institutions in-state and out-of-state
Texas A&M University continues to be one of the most affordable research institutions
in Texas and the country, as noted by US News and World Report ranking Texas A&M
at #5 for best value among public institutions in the country, and the highest ranked
public institution in Texas. We have maintained that affordability by maintaining low
administrative costs, increasing financial aid availability, and keeping designated tuition
increases smaller than other institutions of higher learning. Tuition and fees and the
total cost of attendance at Texas A&M continue to remain lower than UT-Austin. For
2008-2009, Texas A&M’s cost of attendance is $19,950 while UT-Austin is at $22,072
(Information from THECB http://www.collegefortexans.com/paying/collegecosts.cfm). In
comparison with peer institutions outside of Texas, our costs remain lower than
Michigan ($22,729), UCLA ($25,131), and Virginia ($20,173) while being higher than
North Carolina ($16,370) and Purdue ($18,546). Last year, more than seventy nine
percent (79%) of Texas A&M students received some type of financial aid, totaling
almost $450 million. While the average debt is about $20,000 and the number of
graduates with debt is just over half, the average is consistent with nation-wide trends
and the percentage with debt lower than the 2/3 of graduates nation-wide. In addition,
the growth rate of student loans in 2007-2008 was just 1.2%, the smallest growth rate in
the last decade at A&M. To address access and affordability for low-income students, in
Fall 2004, we introduced the Regents Scholar program for first generation students with
family incomes below $40,000. We now serve almost 2000 students through this
program, providing up to a $5,000 scholarship to each student. Furthering our
commitment to affordability, in Fall 2008, we launched the Aggie Assurance program,
beginning with new freshmen, guaranteeing enough scholarships and grants to cover
tuition for all students below $60,000. This program is expected to serve more than
5000 students when fully implemented. Finally, it should be noted that Texas A&M
continues to operate a Tuition Policy Advisory Council that includes undergraduate and
graduate students and representatives from the Association of Former Students and the
Federation of Texas A&M Mothers Clubs in order to ensure that any tuition increases
that may be required in the future are reasonable.
Updated 4/1/09 from the THECB Affordability Survey 2007-2008
