Worked example · Pasadena
Two years at San Jacinto College, then two years at the University of Houston
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, food, books, transportation, parking, 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 · LSC → UH · Collin College → UT Dallas · Kilgore College → UT Tyler · Grayson College → UNT (Denton) · WCJC → UH (Sugar Land) · Navarro College → ETAMU.
The question
A Pasadena / East Harris 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 San Jacinto 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 San Jacinto College with the University of Houston main campus because Pasadena ISD is on San Jacinto's published taxing-district list (generally Channelview, Deer Park, Galena Park, La Porte, Pasadena, and Sheldon), and UH sits in Houston. 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. San Jacinto → UHCL is a separate Clear Lake sibling that uses San Jacinto Out-of-District as its default. Lone Star College → UH is a separate Kingwood sibling that uses LSC In-District with the same UH CLASS row. HCC → Texas State is a separate Houston sibling that does not print a UH campus-wide cell.
San Jacinto In-District is the default cell because Pasadena is in the taxing district. Check your own address with San Jacinto. Service area is not the taxing district. Clear Lake / Clear Creek (Harris) residents outside the taxing district pay Out-of-District — see the Clear Lake sibling. Out-of-District is an alternate row here. Out-of-State / International 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
Pasadena / San Jacinto taxing-district residents pay In-District rates. Check your own address with San Jacinto. Service area is not the taxing district.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| San Jacinto College, In-District 2026–2027, 15 credit hours | $1,245 per semester | Default cell. Official $83 × 15 = $1,245 (Fees $0 simplified model — the per-credit rate includes student fees). Catalog 2026–2027 15 SCH row prints $1,245. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,245 × 4 = $4,980. |
| San Jacinto College, Out-of-District, 15 credit hours | $2,160 per semester | Alternate only. Published $144 × 15 = $2,160. 60 hours = $8,640. Illustration: Out-of-District 2+2 = $8,640 + $23,775.60 = $32,415.60 (gap $15,135.60). Not the Pasadena In-District default cell. Clear Lake / Clear Creek (Harris) residents outside the taxing district use this tier — see the Clear Lake sibling. |
| San Jacinto College, Out-of-State / International, 15 credit hours | $3,345 per semester | Warning only. Published $223 × 15 = $3,345. 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. |
| 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. Cross-check only: UH Undergraduate Admissions prints $11,888 in-state tuition for two 15-hour semesters in 2026–27 (consistent with $5,943.90 × 2 rounded). 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.
Sources retrieved October 26, 2026: San Jacinto College; San Jacinto College; San Jacinto College; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston Undergraduate Admissions. All sources
San Jacinto College → UH versus eight UH semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| San Jacinto In-District 60-hour path ($1,245 × 4 = $4,980) + 2 UH CLASS – Liberal Arts Texas Resident years ($5,943.90 × 4 = $23,775.60) | $28,755.60 |
| 8 UH CLASS – Liberal Arts Texas Resident semesters ($5,943.90 × 8) | $47,551.20 |
| Difference in these published lines | $18,795.60 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 26, 2026: San Jacinto College; University of Houston. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The San Jacinto In-District $1,245 semester actually applies. That is a street address in San Jacinto's taxing district (generally Channelview, Deer Park, Galena Park, La Porte, Pasadena, and Sheldon). Out-of-District 15 hours is $2,160. Out-of-State / International 15 hours is $3,345. Check residency with San Jacinto. 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, 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 26, 2026: San Jacinto College; San Jacinto College; San Jacinto College; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston; University of Houston Undergraduate Admissions; University of Houston Undergraduate Admissions; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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