Worked example · Richardson
Two years at Dallas College, then two years at the University of Texas at Dallas
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, books, course and lab fees beyond the published Total, parking, 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) · Blinn → Prairie View A&M · Alamo → A&M–San Antonio · HCC → UH–Downtown · Dallas College → UNT Dallas · HCC → Texas Southern · SJC → UH · LSC → UH · Collin College → UT Dallas · Kilgore College → UT Tyler · Grayson College → UNT (Denton) · WCJC → UH (Sugar Land) · Navarro College → ETAMU.
The question
A Richardson / Dallas 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 Dallas College at the published Dallas 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 Dallas College with UT Dallas because Dallas College campuses serve Dallas County and UT Dallas's main campus is in Richardson. 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 → UNT Denton is a separate sibling map that uses the same Dallas County rate with a different receiving university. Collin College → UT Dallas is a separate Plano / McKinney sibling that uses a different community-college sticker with the same UTD Variable Resident cell.
Richardson / Dallas County is inside Dallas College's Dallas County pricing, so the published Dallas County (In-District) rate is the default cell on this page — the same convention as the Dallas College → UNT Denton sibling. Out-of-County is an alternate row. Out-of-State / Out-of-Country is a warning row. Texas Direct is credit application plus a THECB associate degree 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
Richardson / Dallas County residents pay Dallas College Dallas County rates. Check residency with Dallas College.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas College, Dallas County resident (In-District), 15 credit hours | $1,485 per semester | Default cell. Official $99 per credit hour × 15 = $1,485. Published 12-hour Dallas County check $1,188 ($99 × 12). Dallas College does not itself print a 15-hour total on the pages we fetched; 15-hour and 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,485 × 4 = $5,940 (same as $99 × 60). Spring 2025+ rates still on the Cost page (Updated July 9, 2026). |
| Dallas College, Out-of-County (other Texas), 15 credit hours | $2,535 per semester | Alternate only. Published $169 × 15 = $2,535. Illustration: Out-of-County 2+2 = $2,535 × 4 + $7,332 × 4 = $10,140 + $29,328 = $39,468. Not the Richardson / Dallas County default cell. |
| Dallas College, Out-of-State / Out-of-Country, 15 credit hours | $3,750 per semester | Warning only. Published $250 × 15 = $3,750. 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 and not the Enrollment Affordability annual COA estimate. |
| 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. Those amounts are omitted from the $7,332 default cell.
Sources retrieved October 16, 2026: Dallas College; Dallas College; Dallas College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar. All sources
Dallas College → UT Dallas versus eight UT Dallas semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| Dallas College Dallas County 60-hour path ($1,485 × 4) + 2 UTD Variable Resident years ($7,332 × 4) | $5,940 + $29,328 = $35,268 |
| 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 | $23,388 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 16, 2026: Dallas College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The Dallas College Dallas County / In-District $1,485 semester actually applies. Richardson / Dallas County is the default. Out-of-County 15 hours is $2,535. Out-of-State / Out-of-Country 15 hours is $3,750. Check residency with Dallas College.
- UT Dallas 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 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. Do not substitute the Enrollment Affordability annual COA estimate.
- 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, course materials, UTD school supplemental designated tuition and other course or program fees beyond the Bursar table Total, parking, installment fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, College Scorecard, Net Price Calculator outputs, and aid/scholarship dollar effects (including Comet Promise) are omitted. We do not invent transfer-agreement dollars from UT Dallas admissions pages.
Sources retrieved October 16, 2026: Dallas College; Dallas College; Dallas College; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar; The University of Texas at Dallas Bursar; 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.