Worked example · Third Ward Houston
Two years at Houston Community College, then two years at Texas Southern University
This page compares published tuition and fees only. Housing, food, books, transportation, parking, course and lab fees, HCC distance-education and building-use fees, TSU program differential tuition, 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 · 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 Third Ward Houston resident wants a public bachelor's. Path A: eight semesters at Texas Southern University, Fall 2026–Spring 2027 Undergraduate Resident Traditional Plan + Fees, 15 credit hours. Path B: complete about 60 transferable semester hours at Houston Community College (the college now also brands itself Houston City College) at the published In-District rate, including Core Curriculum and — where it exists — a Field of Study, then finish two years at TSU. Does Path B show a lower published tuition-and-fee total?
We pair HCC with TSU because TSU sits at 3100 Cleburne Street in Houston's Third Ward. HCC In-District is a Texas resident at a street address in HCC's taxing district (Houston ISD, Alief ISD, Stafford MSD, part of Missouri City; HCC's service-area sentence also lists North Forest ISD). PO boxes and dorm addresses do not qualify. Check your own address against HCC's taxing district — do not assume every Houston address is in-district. Out-of-District is an alternate row. Out-of-State/International is a warning row. HCC → Texas State and HCC → UH–Downtown are separate sibling maps that use HCC with different receiving universities.
TSU sets its own transfer criteria — context and link-out only. Read TSU's pages directly. 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 TSU 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
In-District HCC rates apply only at a street address in HCC's taxing district. Check residency with HCC.
| Item | Published figure | How we use it |
|---|---|---|
| Houston Community College, In-District 2026-2027, 15 credit hours | $1,270.50 per semester | Default cell. HCC calculator logic: $33×15 + $25.50×15 + $25×15 + $12 activity-fee cap + $6 recreation fee = $495 + $382.50 + $375 + $18 = $1,270.50. The published “$84.50 per hour” total includes the $1/hr activity fee capped at $12, so 15 hours is not $84.50×15+$6. 60-hour math is pack arithmetic: $1,270.50 × 4 = $5,082.00. |
| Houston Community College, Out-of-District, 15 credit hours | $2,710.50 per semester | Alternate only. $121×15 + $33.50×15 + $375 + $12 + $6 = $2,710.50. 60 hours = $10,842.00. Illustration: Out-of-District 2+2 = $10,842.00 + $18,346.60 = $29,188.60 (gap $7,504.60). Not the In-District default cell. |
| Houston Community College, Out-of-State/International, 15 credit hours | $3,408.00 per semester | Warning only. Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
| Texas Southern University, Fall 2026–Spring 2027 Undergraduate Resident Traditional Plan + Fees, 15 credit hours | $4,586.65 per semester | Default receiving-university cell. Official schedule: $750 statutory + $2,968.65 designated + $868 mandatory fees (Student Service $198, Athletic $150, Library $150, Student Center $75, Int'l Education $3, Recreational Facility $50, Medical Service $35, Computer Service $103, School Fees $104). Two years = $4,586.65 × 4 = $18,346.60; eight semesters = $4,586.65 × 8 = $36,693.20. This is the Traditional plan, not the higher optional Fixed Rate plan. |
| Texas Southern University, Fall 2026–Spring 2027 Undergraduate Non-Resident/Foreign Traditional Plan + Fees, 15 credit hours | $11,006.65 per semester | Warning only. Official schedule: $7,170 statutory + $2,968.65 designated + $868 fees. Not the default Texas-resident cell. |
Footnote only — not default cells: TSU Fixed Rate Plan resident 15 SCH $5,203.00. That plan is opt-in for incoming first-time freshmen and first-time transfers; by default undergraduates are on Traditional. Health Science +$50/SCH differential, Civil/Electrical/Computer Engineering +$278/semester program fee, and Communication +$100 technology fee are not in the totals. Parking, course/lab fees, and orientation fees are also excluded. HCC distance-ed fee ($42/online course) and Katy building-use fee are excluded.
Sources retrieved October 23, 2026: Houston Community College; Texas Southern University Student Accounting; Texas Southern University Student Accounting; Texas Southern University Student Accounting. All sources
Houston Community College → TSU versus eight TSU semesters
| Map | Published tuition & fees |
|---|---|
| HCC In-District 60-hour path ($1,270.50 × 4 = $5,082.00) + 2 TSU Undergraduate Resident Traditional years ($4,586.65 × 4 = $18,346.60) | $23,428.60 |
| 8 TSU Undergraduate Resident Traditional semesters ($4,586.65 × 8) | $36,693.20 |
| Difference in these published lines | $13,264.60 lower on the 2+2 map — a sticker difference, not a savings guarantee |
Sources retrieved October 23, 2026: Houston Community College; Texas Southern University Student Accounting. All sources
What has to be true for the sticker gap to be real
- The HCC In-District $1,270.50 semester actually applies. That is a street address in HCC's taxing district. Out-of-District 15 hours is $2,710.50. Out-of-State/International 15 hours is $3,408.00. Check residency with HCC.
- TSU 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 TSU seat. Admission is not guaranteed by PathMax — no seat, major, scholarship, timeline, or savings promise. TSU sets its own transfer criteria. Read TSU'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 TSU Undergraduate Resident Traditional $4,586.65 cell. The optional Fixed Rate Plan resident 15 SCH $5,203.00 is higher. Health Science differential, engineering program fees, Communication technology fees, lab fees, and extra semesters can raise the TSU line above $4,586.65.
- 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, course/lab fees, HCC distance-ed and building-use fees, TSU program differential tuition, engineering program fees, Communication technology fees, international health insurance, installment fees, cost-of-attendance living averages, College Scorecard, and aid/scholarship dollar effects are omitted. This is arithmetic on published price lists, not a quote from a bursar.
Sources retrieved October 23, 2026: Houston Community College; Texas Southern University Student Accounting; Texas Southern University Student Accounting; Texas Southern University Student Accounting; Texas Southern University; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board; Texas Constitution and Statutes. All sources
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