Worked example · McAllen / Rio Grande Valley
Two years at South Texas College, then two years at UT Rio Grande Valley
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, books, course fees, lab fees, Health Science Professions differentials, 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 · 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.
The question
A McAllen / Hidalgo–Starr Texas resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: enter The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley as a freshman and stay four years. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at South Texas College at the In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at UTRGV. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair South Texas College with UTRGV because they sit in the same Rio Grande Valley metro and official STC2UTRGV pathway pages exist as context only — not a PathMax admission promise and not invented articulation dollars. The default STC cell is In-District (Hidalgo and Starr County residents), Fiscal Year 2026–2027, 15 semester credit hours. Out-of-District and Non-Resident are warning rows, not the default McAllen cell. Texas Direct is credit application plus a THECB associate degree under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve a UTRGV seat. Admission is not guaranteed. Do not merge that language with TEC §51.8035.
Published rates used
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| South Texas College, In-District (Hidalgo/Starr), 15 SCH (Fiscal Year 2026–2027 Student Tuition and Fees) | $2,460.00 per semester | Default cell. Flat $164 per credit hour. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic, not an STC printed 60-hour total: $2,460.00 × 4 = $9,840.00. |
| South Texas College, Out-of-District, 15 SCH | $2,610.00 per semester | Warning only. Not the default cell. Texas residents outside Hidalgo and Starr. 60-hour warning path is pack arithmetic: $2,610.00 × 4 = $10,440.00. |
| South Texas College, Non-Resident, 15 SCH | $3,810.00 per semester | Warning only. Same Fiscal Year 2026–2027 schedule. Not the default cell. |
| UTRGV, Undergraduate Resident Fall or Spring, 15 SCH (Tuition Estimator Fall 2026 to Summer 2027) | $5,411.60 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Same as the 12-SCH line — published 12-hour resident cap. Year at 15+15 = $10,823.20; 2 years = $5,411.60 × 4 = $21,646.40; 4 years = $5,411.60 × 8 = $43,292.80. |
| UTRGV, Undergraduate Non-Resident Fall or Spring, 15 SCH (Fall 2026 to Summer 2027) | $11,831.60 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. Non-resident statutory tuition continues past the 12-hour cap. |
Sources retrieved September 18, 2026: South Texas College; South Texas College; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley U Central; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley U Central. All sources
South Texas College → UTRGV versus four years at UTRGV
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| STC In-District 60-hour path ($2,460.00 × 4) + 2 UTRGV Undergraduate Resident years ($5,411.60 × 4) | $9,840.00 + $21,646.40 = $31,486.40 |
| 4 UTRGV Undergraduate Resident years at the same Fall 2026 to Summer 2027 15 SCH line ($5,411.60 × 8) | $43,292.80 |
| Difference in these published lines | $11,806.40 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved September 18, 2026: South Texas College; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley U Central. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The South Texas College In-District $2,460.00 semester actually applies to this address. The STC district is Hidalgo and Starr counties. Out-of-District 15 SCH is $2,610.00 and the 60-hour warning path is $10,440.00 (pack arithmetic); that warning 2+2 total is $32,086.40. Non-Resident 15 SCH is $3,810.00. Those cells change the comparison. Contact STC residency staff to confirm district status — we do not invent a broader service-area map.
- UTRGV 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 a UTRGV seat. Admission is not guaranteed. STC2UTRGV joint-admission / pathway pages are context and link-out only. 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 Undergraduate Resident Fall or Spring $5,411.60 cell from the Fall 2026 to Summer 2027 estimator. That total is the same at 12 SCH because resident tuition and mandatory fees are capped at 12 credit hours. Lab fees, supplemental instruction, housing, meals, and parking are not in that estimator total. The Fall 2025 to Summer 2026 Undergraduate Resident 15 SCH line ($4,993.20) is a prior-year / alternate path. It is not the default Fall 2026-era cell.
- UTRGV's undergraduate guaranteed-tuition clock, for students newly enrolling from Fall 2024 forward, starts at the first UTRGV semester. It is not paused by stop-outs. Finishing late can move a student onto later new-student rates after the guarantee window.
- You do not add a fifth year. Extra semesters at university rates erase the gap.
What we omitted on purpose
This table is sticker tuition and mandatory fees only. Housing, food, books, course fees, lab fees, Health Science Professions or other STC differentials, and cost-of-attendance averages are omitted. College Scorecard average annual cost is net price after grants for first-time aid recipients and does not belong in this table. Aid waivers are omitted. We do not invent articulation-agreement dollars from STC2UTRGV.
Sources retrieved September 18, 2026: South Texas College; South Texas College; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley U Central; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley U Central; The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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