Worked example · Kingwood
Two years at Lone Star College, then two years at the University of Houston
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, food, books, transportation, parking, Lone Star College lab and repeat-course fees, UH college, major, course and lab fees, UH Online Education Fee, transfer orientation 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 · 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 · Collin College → UT Dallas · Kilgore College → UT Tyler · Grayson College → UNT (Denton) · WCJC → UH (Sugar Land) · Navarro College → ETAMU.
The question
A Kingwood / north Houston resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at the University of Houston, CLASS – Liberal Arts, Texas Resident, Variable Rate (default plan), Academic Year 2027 (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027), 15 credit hours, tuition plus mandatory fees. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Lone Star College at the published In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at UH. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Lone Star College with the University of Houston main campus because LSC-Kingwood sits at 20000 Kingwood Drive in Kingwood, and Lone Star College Board Policy I.A.1.03 puts Humble ISD inside LSC's taxing boundaries (with Aldine, Conroe, Cypress-Fairbanks, Klein, Magnolia, New Caney, Splendora, Spring, Tomball, and Willis). TEC §130.191 also names Humble ISD in the LSC service area. Check your own address with Lone Star College — do not assume every Kingwood or north Houston address is Humble ISD or In-District. Service area is not the taxing district. UH rates vary by college; this page locks one labeled row — CLASS – Liberal Arts (Education and Hobby School share the same per-SCH rate). Variable Tuition Rate is UH's default plan for transfer students with 30 or more hours. Dual programs are charged the higher program rate. Lone Star College → SHSU is a separate Huntsville sibling that uses LSC Out-of-District as its default. San Jacinto → UH is a separate Pasadena sibling that uses a different community college with the same UH CLASS row.
Lone Star College In-District is the default cell because Humble ISD is on LSC's official taxing-district list. Out-of-District is an alternate row. International / Out-of-State is a warning row. UH sets its own transfer criteria — context and link-out only. PathMax does not guarantee admission: no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. Texas Direct is a THECB pathway / Texas Direct Transfer Degree (associate) under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve a UH 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
Humble ISD / LSC taxing-district residents pay In-District rates. Check your own address with Lone Star College. Service area is not the taxing district.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Lone Star College, 2026-2027 Tuition & Fees, In-District, 15 credit hours | $1,665 per semester | Default cell. Official 15-hour table row $1,665 ($111 × 15). Fall 2026 base tuition $111/SCH. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,665 × 4 = $6,660. Lab fees vary by course and are omitted. |
| Lone Star College, 2026-2027 Tuition & Fees, Out-of-District Texas Resident, 15 credit hours | $3,735 per semester | Alternate only. Official 15-hour table row $3,735 ($249 × 15). 60 hours = $14,940. Illustration: Out-of-District 2+2 = $14,940 + $23,775.60 = $38,715.60 (gap $8,835.60). Not the Kingwood / Humble ISD In-District default cell. Huntsville ISD / New Waverly ISD use this tier as their default — see the Huntsville sibling. |
| Lone Star College, 2026-2027 Tuition & Fees, International/Out-of-State, 15 credit hours | $4,695 per semester | Warning only. Official 15-hour table row $4,695 ($313 × 15). Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
| University of Houston, CLASS – Liberal Arts, Texas Resident, Variable Rate (default plan), AY2027 (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027), 15 credit hours | $5,943.90 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. $361.86/SCH × 15 = $5,427.90 + mandatory fees $516 (Recreation and Wellness Center $121 + Student Services $260 + UC $135). Two years = $5,943.90 × 4 = $23,775.60; eight semesters = $5,943.90 × 8 = $47,551.20. Education and Hobby School share this per-SCH rate. This is the Variable plan, not the optional 4-Year Fixed plan. UH rates vary by college — this page locks one labeled row. |
| University of Houston, CLASS – Liberal Arts, Non-Resident, AY2027, 15 credit hours | $14,232.90 per semester | Warning only. $914.46 × 15 = $13,716.90 + $516. Not the default Texas-resident cell. UH admissions' printed out-of-state annual figure is not used. |
Footnote only — not default cells: other UH resident 15 SCH totals including the same $516 mandatory fees — Arts / Social Sciences / Integrated Studies / Global Hospitality Leadership / Natural Sciences & Mathematics / Pharmacy ($385.59/SCH) $6,299.85; Architecture / Business / Engineering / Engineering Technology ($420.57/SCH) $6,824.55; Nursing ($484.82/SCH) $7,788.30. Optional opt-in 4-Year Fixed Tuition Rate, 2027 Cohort Transfer Students in Education, Liberal Arts, Hobby School: resident $5,669.38 per term (Fall/Spring) — tuition + consolidated fees only, required fees not included, eligibility rules apply. Dual programs are charged the higher program rate. An “Extended Access Fee” is named on the UH tuition page but has no amount on the required-fees page, so it is not added. UH Online Education Fee $279/sem (only for students enrolled only in online courses) is omitted. LSC lab fees and the $60/SCH repeat-course fee are omitted.
Sources retrieved October 27, 2026: Lone Star College; Lone Star College; Lone Star College; Texas Legislature / texas.public.law; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston. All sources
Lone Star College → UH versus eight UH semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| Lone Star College In-District 60-hour path ($1,665 × 4 = $6,660) + 2 UH CLASS – Liberal Arts Texas Resident years ($5,943.90 × 4 = $23,775.60) | $30,435.60 |
| 8 UH CLASS – Liberal Arts Texas Resident semesters ($5,943.90 × 8) | $47,551.20 |
| Difference in these published lines | $17,115.60 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 27, 2026: Lone Star College; University of Houston. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The Lone Star College In-District $1,665 semester actually applies. That is a street address in LSC's taxing district (Humble ISD and the other listed taxing-district ISDs). Out-of-District 15 hours is $3,735. International / Out-of-State 15 hours is $4,695. Check residency with Lone Star College. Service area is not the taxing district.
- UH 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 UH seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. UH sets its own transfer criteria. Read UH'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 UH CLASS – Liberal Arts Texas Resident $5,943.90 cell. Other colleges cost more ($6,299.85 / $6,824.55 / $7,788.30). The optional 4-Year Fixed transfer cell $5,669.38 per term is tuition + consolidated fees only and does not include required fees. College, major, course, lab, and extra-semester charges can raise the UH line above $5,943.90.
- 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, transportation, parking, Lone Star College lab and repeat-course fees, UH college/major/course/lab fees, UH Online Education Fee ($279/sem, only for students enrolled only in online courses), transfer orientation fee, an “Extended Access Fee” named on the UH tuition page but without an amount on the required-fees page, international health insurance, installment fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, College Scorecard, and aid/scholarship dollar effects are omitted. UH rates are per SCH and vary by college; the default row is CLASS – Liberal Arts only. This is arithmetic on published price lists, not a quote from a bursar.
Sources retrieved October 27, 2026: Lone Star College; Lone Star College; Lone Star College; Texas Legislature / texas.public.law; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston Undergraduate Admissions; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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