Worked example · Commerce
Two years at Paris Junior College, then two years at East Texas A&M (Commerce)
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, books, Dragon Now, PJC lab and course fees, ETAMU online, remote, lab, and parking charges, 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 · 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.
The question
A Commerce resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at East Texas A&M University, Guaranteed One Year Plan Texas Resident, 2025–2026, 15 hours tuition and fees. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Paris Junior College at the published Out-of-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at ETAMU. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Paris Junior College with ETAMU because PJC's Greenville Center offers academic transfer in Hunt County, and ETAMU's campus is in Commerce. ETAMU sets its own transfer criteria — context and link-out only. Read ETAMU's pages directly. PathMax does not guarantee admission: no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. Northeast Texas Community College is not this pairing: TEC §130.192 does not include Hunt County.
Texas Education Code §130.195 puts Hunt County in PJC's statutory service area (except Terrell ISD) but not in the Lamar County taxing district. PJC's service-area page lists Hunt County as out-of-district. Those residents pay the published Out-of-District rate — the default cell on this page. Lamar In-District is an alternate row, not the Commerce default. In-District is Lamar County tax rolls; Out-of-District is other Texas residents plus Oklahoma; Non-Resident is outside Texas/Oklahoma. Check residency with PJC. Out-of-State is a warning row. Texas Direct is credit application plus a THECB associate degree under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve an ETAMU 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
Hunt County / Commerce service-area residents outside the Lamar County taxing district pay PJC Out-of-District rates. Service area is not the taxing district. Check residency with PJC.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Paris Junior College, Out-of-District, 15 credit hours (2025–2026 catalog / tuition table) | $2,100 per semester | Default cell. Hunt County / Commerce is in PJC's statutory service area (TEC §130.195) and outside the Lamar County taxing district. Published 15-hour Out-of-District row $2,100. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic, not a PJC-printed 60-hour total: $2,100 × 4 = $8,400. Dragon Now $20/SCH and lab fees are omitted. |
| Paris Junior College, Lamar In-District, 15 credit hours (2025–2026 catalog / tuition table) | $1,350 per semester | Alternate only. Lamar County tax-roll residents. Illustration: In-District 2+2 = $1,350 × 4 + $5,013.07 × 4 = $5,400 + $20,052.28 = $25,452.28 versus $40,104.56. Not the Commerce default cell. |
| Paris Junior College, Out-of-State, 15 credit hours (2025–2026 catalog / tuition table) | $2,850 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
| East Texas A&M University, Guaranteed One Year Plan Texas Resident, 15 hours, 2025–2026 | $5,013.07 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Published 15-hour Guaranteed One Year Plan Texas Resident total $5,013.07. Year lock: ETAMU Guaranteed One Year Plan + COA 2025–2026. Two years = $5,013.07 × 4 = $20,052.28; eight semesters = $5,013.07 × 8 = $40,104.56. COA Resident tuition and fees $10,026/year corroborates 2 × this cell. Online, remote, lab, and parking charges are omitted. |
| East Texas A&M University, Guaranteed Two Year Plan Texas Resident, 15 hours, 2025–2026 | $5,138.39 per semester | Footnote / alternate only. Higher than the One Year Plan default. Not the default cell. |
| East Texas A&M University, Guaranteed Four Year Plan Texas Resident, 15 hours, 2025–2026 | $5,263.72 per semester | Footnote / alternate only. Higher than the One Year Plan default. Not the default cell. |
| East Texas A&M University, Cost of Attendance Resident tuition and fees, 2025–2026 | $10,026 per year | Corroboration only. Matches 2 × the Guaranteed One Year Plan $5,013.07 cell at 15 hours per semester. Living averages omitted. |
| East Texas A&M University, Guaranteed One Year Plan Out of State, 15 hours, 2025–2026 | $11,133.07 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
Sources retrieved October 13, 2026: Paris Junior College; Paris Junior College; Texas Legislature / texas.public.law; East Texas A&M University; East Texas A&M University. All sources
Paris Junior College → ETAMU versus eight ETAMU semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| PJC Out-of-District 60-hour path ($2,100 × 4) + 2 ETAMU Guaranteed One Year Resident years ($5,013.07 × 4) | $8,400 + $20,052.28 = $28,452.28 |
| 8 ETAMU Guaranteed One Year Plan Texas Resident semesters at the same 2025–2026 15-hour line ($5,013.07 × 8) | $40,104.56 |
| Difference in these published lines | $11,652.28 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 13, 2026: Paris Junior College; East Texas A&M University. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The PJC Out-of-District $2,100 semester actually applies. Hunt County / Commerce service-area residents outside the Lamar County taxing district pay Out-of-District. Lamar In-District 15 hours is $1,350 and is only for Lamar County tax-roll residents. Out-of-State 15 hours is $2,850. Terrell ISD is carved out of TEC §130.195(9). Check residency with PJC.
- ETAMU admits you as a transfer student. Texas Direct is credit application and, when Core plus Field of Study are complete, a THECB associate degree (TEC §61.834). It does not reserve an ETAMU seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. ETAMU sets its own transfer criteria. Read ETAMU'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 ETAMU Guaranteed One Year Plan Texas Resident 2025–2026 $5,013.07 cell. The Two Year Resident 15-hour line is $5,138.39 and the Four Year Resident 15-hour line is $5,263.72 — footnotes only. The COA Resident year $10,026 is corroboration only. Online, remote, lab, three-peat, and parking charges can raise the ETAMU line above $5,013.07.
- You do not add extra semesters at university rates. Extra semesters erase the sticker gap.
What we omitted on purpose
This table is sticker tuition and mandatory fees only. Housing, food, books, Dragon Now $20/SCH, PJC lab and course fees, ETAMU online, remote, lab, three-peat, and parking charges, installment fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, and aid/scholarship dollar effects are omitted. College Scorecard average annual cost does not belong in this table. We do not invent transfer-agreement dollars from ETAMU admissions pages.
Sources retrieved October 13, 2026: Paris Junior College; Paris Junior College; Paris Junior College; Texas Legislature / texas.public.law; Texas Legislature / texas.public.law; East Texas A&M University; East Texas A&M University; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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