Worked example · Plano / McKinney
Two years at Collin College, then two years at the University of Texas at Dallas
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, food, books, parking, course and lab 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 · LSC → UH · Kilgore College → UT Tyler · Grayson College → UNT (Denton) · WCJC → UH (Sugar Land) · Navarro College → ETAMU.
The question
A Plano / McKinney / Collin County resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at the University of Texas at Dallas, Variable Tuition Plan 2026–2027, Resident Undergraduate, Fall/Spring, 15 hours. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Collin College at the published Collin County / In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at UT Dallas. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair Collin College with UT Dallas because Collin College campuses serve Collin County, including Plano and McKinney, and UT Dallas is the nearest public research university on that north-Dallas map. UT Dallas sets its own transfer criteria — context and link-out only. Read UT Dallas's pages directly. PathMax does not guarantee admission: no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. Dallas College → UT Dallas is a separate Richardson sibling that uses a different community-college sticker with the same UTD Variable Resident cell.
Plano / McKinney / Collin County is inside Collin College's Collin County pricing, so the published Collin County (In-District) rate is the default cell on this page. In-county requires Texas residency and living or owning residential property in Collin County. Check residency with Collin College. Out-of-County is an alternate row. Out-of-State / Out-of-Country is a warning row. Texas Direct is a THECB pathway / Texas Direct Transfer Degree (associate) under Texas Education Code §61.834. It does not reserve a UT Dallas 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
Plano / McKinney / Collin County residents pay Collin College Collin County rates. Check residency with Collin College.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Collin College, Texas and Collin County Resident (In-District), 15 credit hours | $1,005 per semester | Default cell. Official $65 tuition + $2 activity fee = $67 per credit hour × 15 = $1,005. Collin does not itself print a 15-hour total on the pages we fetched; 15-hour and 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,005 × 4 = $4,020. The 2025-26 Tuition Schedule rates are still the Fall 2026 / AY 2026–27 rates (Board vote to maintain current rates; no increase budgeted). |
| Collin College, Texas Resident, Outside Collin County, 15 credit hours | $1,905 per semester | Alternate only. Official $125 + $2 = $127 × 15 = $1,905. Illustration: Out-of-County 2+2 = $1,905 × 4 + $7,332 × 4 = $7,620 + $29,328 = $36,948 (gap $21,708). Not the Plano / McKinney / Collin County default cell. |
| Collin College, Out-of-State / Out-of-Country, 15 credit hours | $3,030 per semester | Warning only. Official $200 + $2 = $202 × 15 = $3,030 ($200 minimum by law). Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
| University of Texas at Dallas, Variable Tuition Plan 2026–2027, Resident Undergraduate, Fall/Spring, 15 credit hours | $7,332 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Official Bursar table row. 12–15 hours share the same Fall/Spring total. Two years = $7,332 × 4 = $29,328; eight semesters = $7,332 × 8 = $58,656. This is the Variable plan, not the higher Guaranteed plan. |
| University of Texas at Dallas, Variable Tuition Plan 2026–2027, Non-Resident Undergraduate, Fall/Spring, 15 credit hours | $20,082 per semester | Warning only. Official Bursar table row. Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
Footnote only — not default cells: UTD Guaranteed Resident Fall/Spring 15 SCH $8,256 (higher locked plan). Supplemental Designated Tuition billed on top of the base table for some schools: ATCM $50/SCH, ECS $70/SCH, MGT $60/SCH. Collin lab/special course fees, the optional Cougar Book Bundle $23/SCH, and the $50/SCH surcharge on non-state-funded repeat/excess courses are omitted from the $1,005 default cell.
Sources retrieved October 28, 2026: Collin College; Collin College News; Collin College; Collin College; Collin College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar. All sources
Collin College → UT Dallas versus eight UT Dallas semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| Collin College Collin County 60-hour path ($1,005 × 4 = $4,020) + 2 UTD Variable Resident years ($7,332 × 4 = $29,328) | $4,020 + $29,328 = $33,348 |
| 8 UTD Variable Resident semesters at the same 2026–2027 Fall/Spring 15 SCH line ($7,332 × 8) | $58,656 |
| Difference in these published lines | $25,308 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 28, 2026: Collin College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The Collin College Collin County / In-District $1,005 semester actually applies. Plano / McKinney / Collin County is the default. Out-of-County 15 hours is $1,905. Out-of-State / Out-of-Country 15 hours is $3,030. Check residency with Collin College.
- UT Dallas 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 UT Dallas seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. UT Dallas sets its own transfer criteria. Read UT Dallas'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 UTD Variable Resident 2026–2027 $7,332 cell. The Guaranteed Resident 15 SCH $8,256 plan is higher. Supplemental Designated Tuition (ATCM $50/SCH, ECS $70/SCH, MGT $60/SCH) can raise the UTD line above $7,332.
- 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, parking, Collin lab/special course fees, the optional Cougar Book Bundle, the $50/SCH surcharge on non-state-funded repeat/excess courses, UTD school supplemental designated tuition and other course or program fees beyond the Bursar table Total, installment fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, College Scorecard, Net Price Calculator outputs, and aid/scholarship dollar effects are omitted. This is arithmetic on published price lists, not a quote from a bursar.
Sources retrieved October 28, 2026: Collin College; Collin College News; Collin College; Collin College; Collin College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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