Worked example · Baytown
Two years at Lee College, then two years at the University of Houston–Clear Lake
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, food, books, parking, course and lab fees, and financial aid are omitted because mixing them in without a family's FAFSA is how directories invent savings. This is a published-price map, not a named state program.
Siblings: Austin ACC → Texas State / UT Austin · Houston HCC → Texas State · Dallas College → UNT Denton · Alamo Colleges → UTSA · TCC → UNT Denton · EPCC → UTEP · SPC → Texas Tech · Del Mar → TAMU-CC · TJC → UT Tyler · AC → WTAMU · STC → UTRGV · TSC → UTRGV · LC → TAMIU · MCC → TAMUCT · LIT → LU · OC → UTPB · VC → TAMUV · TC → TAMUT · Vernon → MSU · Cisco → ASU · Blinn → TAMU · GC → UHCL · CTC → TAMUCT · AC → SFA · LSC → SHSU · ACC → TXST (San Marcos) · NCTC → TWU · Ranger → Tarleton · PJC → ETAMU (Commerce) · San Jacinto → UHCL · TCC → UTA (Arlington) · Dallas College → UT Dallas · Blinn → Prairie View A&M · Alamo → A&M–San Antonio · HCC → UH–Downtown · Dallas College → UNT Dallas · HCC → Texas Southern · SJC → UH · LSC → UH · Collin College → UT Dallas · Kilgore College → UT Tyler · Grayson College → UNT (Denton) · WCJC → UH (Sugar Land) · Navarro College → ETAMU · PJC → ETAMU (Paris).
The question
A Baytown resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at the University of Houston–Clear Lake, College of Education Resident Undergraduate Total, Academic Year 2026–2027, 15 hours. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Lee College at the published In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at UHCL. This page prints two Path B maps: Lee College In-District (default) and Lee College Out-of-District. Does either map show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Lee College with UHCL because Lee College sits in Baytown and UHCL is the nearest University of Houston campus on that east Harris / Clear Lake corridor. UHCL rates vary by college; this page locks the same College of Education Resident UG Total 15 SCH cell already used on the Galveston and Clear Lake siblings — $4,562.70 per semester. San Jacinto → UHCL is a separate Clear Lake sibling that defaults to San Jacinto Out-of-District. Galveston College → UHCL is a separate Galveston sibling. UHCL sets its own transfer criteria — context and link-out only. Read UHCL's pages directly. PathMax does not guarantee admission: no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise.
Lee College's Tuition & Other Charges page defines In-District as U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are residents of Baytown and reside at a property for which GCCISD and Lee College tax payments are required. That is the default cell — $1,334 / 15 SCH ($59/SCH tuition plus published mandatory fees). Out-of-District is the alternate map for Texas residents who do not reside in Baytown or at a GCCISD / Lee College tax property — $2,406.50 / 15 SCH ($130.50/SCH tuition plus the same fees). Confirm your own status with Lee College. This page does not claim any specific address. Non-Resident is a warning row. Texas Direct is a THECB pathway / Texas Direct Transfer Degree (associate) under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve a UHCL seat. Admission is not guaranteed. Do not merge that language with TEC §51.8035. 2+2 is not a named state program.
Published rates used
Baytown residents at a property paying GCCISD and Lee College taxes pay In-District rates. Confirm residency with Lee College.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Lee College, In-District, 15 credit hours (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027 Tuition & Other Charges table) | $1,334 per semester | Default cell. Official 15-SCH total. In-District tuition is $59/SCH. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,334 × 4 = $5,336. This page uses Lee's published per-semester 15-hour table, not a Lee annual cost-of-attendance line. myBooks is not in this cell. |
| Lee College, Out-of-District, 15 credit hours (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027) | $2,406.50 per semester | Alternate map. Official 15-SCH total. Out-of-District tuition is $130.50/SCH. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $2,406.50 × 4 = $9,626. 2+2 = $9,626 + $18,250.80 = $27,876.80 (gap $8,624.80). |
| Lee College, Non-Resident, 15 credit hours (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027) | $2,669 per semester | Warning only. Official 15-SCH total. Not the default Texas-resident cell. We do not print a combined non-resident 2+2. |
| University of Houston–Clear Lake, Academic Year 2026–2027 Tuition and Fees Table, College of Education Resident Undergraduate Total (R-UG TOTAL), 15 SCH | $4,562.70 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Same Education R-UG TOTAL as the Galveston and Clear Lake siblings. Two years = $4,562.70 × 4 = $18,250.80; eight semesters = $4,562.70 × 8 = $36,501.60. |
| UHCL Academic Year 2026–2027, College of Education NR/F UG TOTAL, 15 SCH | $12,827.70 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. We do not print a combined non-resident 2+2. |
Footnote only — not in the sticker: Lee College course/lab fees, dual-credit pricing, testing and background-check fees, and myBooks ($33/SCH, opt-out available; up to $495 at 15 SCH if every class uses it and the student does not opt out). If myBooks applied to all 15 SCH every Lee semester, In-District 2+2 becomes $25,566.80. Other UHCL resident 15 SCH totals — College of Science and Engineering / Human Sciences and Humanities $4,637.70; Business $4,757.70; Fixed Rate $4,930.20 — cost more than the Education $4,562.70 cell. Rates change; check Lee College and UHCL pages before enrolling.
Sources retrieved November 5, 2026: Lee College Business Office; University of Houston–Clear Lake Student Business Services. All sources
Lee College → UHCL versus eight UHCL semesters
Both maps use the same UHCL College of Education Resident $4,562.70 cell. The In-District map is the Baytown default. Confirm residency with Lee College.
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| In-District: Lee College 60-hour path ($1,334 × 4 = $5,336) + 2 UHCL College of Education Resident years ($4,562.70 × 4 = $18,250.80) | $5,336 + $18,250.80 = $23,586.80 |
| Out-of-District: Lee College 60-hour path ($2,406.50 × 4 = $9,626) + 2 UHCL years ($18,250.80) | $9,626 + $18,250.80 = $27,876.80 |
| 8 UHCL College of Education Resident semesters ($4,562.70 × 8) | $36,501.60 |
| In-District difference in these published lines | $12,914.80 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
| Out-of-District difference in these published lines | $8,624.80 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved November 5, 2026: Lee College Business Office; University of Houston–Clear Lake Student Business Services. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The Lee College rate that actually applies is the one you confirm with Lee College. In-District 15 hours is $1,334 ($59/SCH) for a Baytown resident at a GCCISD / Lee College tax property — the default. Out-of-District 15 hours is $2,406.50 ($130.50/SCH). Non-Resident 15 hours is $2,669. We do not claim any specific address.
- UHCL admits you as a transfer student. Texas Direct is a THECB pathway / Texas Direct Transfer Degree (associate) under TEC §61.834. It does not reserve a UHCL seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. UHCL sets its own transfer admission criteria. Read UHCL's pages directly. Do not merge that credit / associate language with TEC §51.8035.
- The hours apply to the major. Use a completed Field of Study when THECB says it is complete. Computer Science, Biology, English, Architecture, and Engineering are not completed Texas Direct blocks on the THECB table we last fetched — do not treat them as one. See Texas Direct.
- You stay on the UHCL College of Education Resident UG Total 2026–2027 $4,562.70 cell. Other UHCL colleges and Fixed Rate cost more. Course/program fees or myBooks can raise the line.
- You do not add extra semesters at university rates. Extra semesters, higher-cost UHCL colleges, Fixed Rate, course/program fees, or myBooks shrink or erase the sticker gap. Rates change; check the current Lee College and UHCL pages before enrolling.
What we omitted on purpose
This table is sticker tuition and mandatory fees only. Housing, food, books (except the myBooks footnote), parking, lab/program/ college fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, College Scorecard, Net Price Calculator outputs, aid, and earnings are omitted. This is arithmetic on published price lists, not a quote from a bursar.
Sources retrieved November 5, 2026.
Sources retrieved November 5, 2026: Lee College Business Office; University of Houston–Clear Lake Student Business Services; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
Directory pages stay free. Published by Plain Steps. Optional $19 Texas Direct 2+2 worksheet.