Why This Matters

  • 129 COLLEGES IN TEXAS

    According to College Navigator, there are 47 public colleges, 56 private non-profit colleges, and 26 private for-profit colleges in Texas.

  • $10,180 AVERAGE IN-STATE TUITION & FEES

    According to estimates from College Board, the average tuition and fees at a public school in Texas was $10,810 during the 2020-2021 academic year.

  • $14,940 FINANCIAL AID PER U.S. STUDENT

    During the 2019-2020 academic year, College Board reports that the average undergraduate U.S. college student who enrolled full-time received $14,940 in financial aid.

Our Research

We reviewed the best colleges in Texas, making sure to cover large institutions, liberal arts colleges, and midsize universities. Our list includes everything from teaching colleges to major research universities, because students with different goals need different types of colleges. To help you identify your best options, we ranked these colleges according to teaching modes available, cost per credit hour, and credit hour requirements.

To maintain the quality of our list, we only looked at accredited schools. Most of the colleges listed are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), which is well-known for maintaining high standards among its member schools.

We evaluated each program on the basis of flexibility, faculty, course strength, cost, and reputation. Then we calculated the Intelligent Score for each program on a scale from 0 to 100. For a more extensive explanation, check out Our Ranking Methodology.

  • 78 hours to write this article
  • 161 universities and colleges we assessed
  • 286 education programs we compared

The Top 50 Colleges in Texas

Best Colleges In Texas
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What You Should Know About Graduating From College in Texas

As you evaluate college options in Texas, you should consider how a degree will prepare you to enter the state’s workforce. The state’s top industries for employment were trade, transportation, and utilities; goods-producing services; government; education and health services; and professional and business services in October 2020.

Many job seekers in Texas end up working in the state’s fastest growing career paths. The five careers seeing the most job growth within the state are information security analysts, research analysts, software developers, market research analysts and marketing specialists, and software developers.

Texas is a large state that has many companies employing thousands of people, and a number of employers have tens of thousands of people working for them. A few of the state’s 50 largest employers include the University of Texas at Austin, Chevron, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Apple Corporate, and the Nasa-Johnson Space Center.

What’s Next?

When researching Texas’s college options, pay attention to financial aid. The following are some helpful state and federal resources that will assist you in identifying grant, scholarship, and other financial aid opportunities in Texas.

  • Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Find detailed information on in-state tuition eligibility requirements and state education loans from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
  • Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The U.S. Department of Education doles out over $120 billion in financial aid each year. You can check your eligibility at FAFSA4caster and submit an online application through this form.
  • CareerOneStop. CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to provide students with comprehensive grant and scholarship information. The grants and scholarships listed are sortable by state, and your search can be further refined by application deadline, eligibility requirements, funds awarded, and other criteria.