Worked example · Nacogdoches–Lufkin
Two years at Angelina College, then two years at Stephen F. Austin State University
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, books, Angelina College differential tuition and course, lab, or distance-education fees, SFA parking and course 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 · LSC → SHSU.
The question
A Nacogdoches–Lufkin / East Texas resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas Resident Annual Flat-Rate Tuition 2026-2027, 15 hours undergraduate. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Angelina College at the published In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at SFA. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Angelina College (Lufkin) with SFA (Nacogdoches) because they sit in the same East Texas metro. SFA lists Angelina College as a Lumberjack Transfer Alliance partner and states its own transfer criteria on that page — context and link-out only. Read SFA's page directly. PathMax does not guarantee admission: no seat, major, scholarship, stipend, timeline, or savings promise.
Angelina College's published In-District rate is for legal residents of Angelina County (the taxing district). Nacogdoches County is in Angelina College's service area, but that does not make a Nacogdoches County resident In-District. Nacogdoches County residents pay the published Out-of-District rate — a warning row, not the default. Out-of-State and International are also warning rows. Property owners outside the district who pay AC ad valorem taxes (and dependents) may pay in-district rates under Tex. Educ. Code §130.0032; eligibility is decided by the college. Texas Direct is credit application plus a THECB associate degree under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve an SFA 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
Nacogdoches County is not In-District for Angelina College. The default cell below is Angelina County In-District. Nacogdoches County and other Texas residents outside Angelina County use the Out-of-District warning row.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Angelina College, 2026/27 Tuition and Fees Table A, In-District, 15 credit hours | $1,620 per semester | Default cell. Legal residents of Angelina County. Published Table A: Tuition $1,050 + General Institutional Services Fee $570 = $1,620. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic, not an AC printed 60-hour total: $1,620 × 4 = $6,480. Course, lab, distance-education, and differential fees are omitted. |
| Angelina College, 2026/27 Table A, Out-of-District, 15 credit hours | $2,445 per semester | Warning only. Nacogdoches County and other Texas residents outside Angelina County. Published GISF $720 + Tuition $1,725 = $2,445. Illustration: Out-of-District 2+2 = $2,445 × 4 + $6,094 × 4 = $9,780 + $24,376 = $34,156 versus $48,752 ($14,596 lower). Not the default cell. |
| Angelina College, 2026/27 Table A, Out-of-State, 15 credit hours | $3,150 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. Same published Table A. |
| Angelina College, 2026/27 Table A, International, 15 credit hours | $4,200 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. Same published Table A. |
| Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas Resident Annual Flat-Rate Tuition 2026-2027 (Fall 2026 / Spring 2027), 15 hours undergraduate, tuition and mandatory fees | $6,094 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Published 15-hour line: Statutory Tuition $750.00 + Designated Tuition $3,030.50 + UG Differential Tuition $100.00 + University Services Fee $900.00 + Technology Fee $360.00 + Athletics Fee $480.00 + Student Service Fee $202.50 + Student Center Fee $85.00 + Int'l Ed. Fee $3.00 + Reg/Record Fee $8.00 + Rec Sports Fee $120.00 + Medical Services Fee $55.00 = $6,094.00. Flat at 12–21 hours. SFA's PDF says 2026-27 resident undergraduate academic costs are frozen. Two years = $6,094 × 4 = $24,376; eight semesters = $6,094 × 8 = $48,752. Parking and course fees are omitted. |
| SFA Non-Resident undergraduate, 2026-2027, 15 hours | $12,514 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. Same official Non-Resident rate table PDF. |
| SFA Guaranteed-Price Plan (opt-in four-year lock) / Border State 100 Mile, Texas resident or documented border UG, 15 hours | $6,469 / $6,544 per semester | Footnote only. Guaranteed-Price is an opt-in four-year lock. Border State 100 Mile requires additional documentation. Do not swap either into the default cell. |
Sources retrieved October 6, 2026: Angelina College; Angelina College; Angelina College Catalog; Angelina College Catalog; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services. All sources
Angelina College → SFA versus eight SFA semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| Angelina College In-District 60-hour path ($1,620 × 4) + 2 SFA Texas Resident Flat-Rate years ($6,094 × 4) | $6,480 + $24,376 = $30,856 |
| 8 SFA Texas Resident Annual Flat-Rate semesters at the same 2026-2027 15-hour line ($6,094 × 8) | $48,752 |
| Difference in these published lines | $17,896 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 6, 2026: Angelina College; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The Angelina College In-District $1,620 semester actually applies. In-District is Angelina County. Nacogdoches County is service area, not the taxing district, and pays Out-of-District 15 hours $2,445. Out-of-State 15 hours is $3,150. International 15 hours is $4,200.
- SFA 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 SFA seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, stipend, timeline, or savings promise. SFA's Lumberjack Transfer Alliance page is context and link-out only. Read it 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. SFA/AC pathway maps are school advising maps, not PathMax FOS-completion claims. See Texas Direct.
- You stay on the SFA Texas Resident Annual Flat-Rate 2026-2027 $6,094 cell. Parking and course fees are not in that total. Guaranteed-Price Plan 15 hours $6,469 and Border State 100 Mile $6,544 are footnotes only. SFA also charges +$200 per SCH for excessive undergraduate hours.
- 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, Angelina College differential tuition (for example +$50/SCH nursing clinical, +$35/SCH lineworker, +$12/SCH welding), $50 Distance Education per online/hybrid/hyflex/DigiTex course, $15 lab fees, SFA parking and course fees, and cost-of-attendance living averages are omitted. AC 2026/27 Cost of Attendance weighted average tuition (15 hours + 3 lab fees + 1 internet fee per semester × 2) of In-District $3,430 / Out-of-District $5,080 / Out-of-State $6,490 is corroboration only (matches 2 × the 15-hour rows + $190 of course fees). College Scorecard average annual cost does not belong in this table. We do not invent articulation-agreement dollars from the Lumberjack Transfer Alliance.
Sources retrieved October 6, 2026: Angelina College; Angelina College; Angelina College; Angelina College Catalog; Angelina College Catalog; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University Student Business Services; Stephen F. Austin State University; 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.