San Marcos, TX · Public · Every figure is for a student starting in fall 2027. We work each one out again whenever we update the site.
How to pay for Texas State University
What a year costs here, what brings it down, and what a SmartTuition plan could save a family like yours.
Paying for four years here
Four years here, after grants
$67,138
A SmartTuition plan could save a family like this about $4,500.
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester, using your own numbers.
Build your SmartTuition plan for Texas State University, $99 →Best once your award letter arrives. No letter yet? Get the monthly email.
A family of four with good credit and $500 a month for college. How we worked these out ↓
A year at Texas State University
| Full price, in state | $27,151 |
| Full price, out of state | $40,376 |
| After grants, at your income | $15,538 |
At this income, 11 of Texas's other 58 colleges cost less after grants, and 47 cost more. See them all →
What can bring it down
Merit scholarships. Scholarships guaranteed at admission to qualified freshmen by test score and class rank: $12,000 a year at the top, down to $4,000 a year. They renew with a 3.25 GPA and 28 passed hours a year.
Texas State University's promise. Bobcat Promise: tuition and mandatory fees covered for Texas first-time freshmen with family income of $50,000 or less. The conditions ↓
Pay less for college
A SmartTuition plan shows what to pay from where, each semester.
At Texas State University, our scenarios for Texas households with good parent credit show a SmartTuition plan saving a median of about $6,200 over four years. How we worked this out ↓
Considering more than one college?
Put the schools you are considering on one list and we price each of them for your family. It is free. It asks what you earn and what you have saved, never your name.
Put your schools side by side →Merit scholarships
What Texas State University says it awards for grades and test scores.
Scholarships guaranteed at admission to qualified freshmen by test score and class rank: $12,000 a year at the top, down to $4,000 a year. They renew with a 3.25 GPA and 28 passed hours a year.
Published guarantees you may qualify for
We do not assume you qualify for any of these, and our plans never bank on them. Check each against your own situation with the aid office.
Bobcat Promise: tuition and mandatory fees covered for Texas first-time freshmen with family income of $50,000 or less
Household income up to $50,000. Covers tuition, fees.
- For an entering first-time freshman who graduated from a Texas high school, has financial need, files the FAFSA by March 15, and takes 15 credit hours each fall and spring. Transfer students are not eligible. It covers up to 15 hours a semester, for up to four years.
“The Bobcat Promise provides grants for tuition and mandatory fees up to 15 hours per semester to new entering freshmen with a FAFSA® income of $50,000 or less and, beginning with the Fall 2027 class, a FAFSA® income of $100,000 or less for students ranked in the Top 25% of their graduating high school class.”
Bobcat Promise: tuition and mandatory fees covered for top-25% Texas freshmen with family income of $100,000 or less
Household income up to $100,000. Covers tuition, fees.
- For the fall 2027 class and later: first-time freshmen ranked in the top 25% of their high school class, with the same conditions as the $50,000 tier.
“The Bobcat Promise provides grants for tuition and mandatory fees up to 15 hours per semester to new entering freshmen with a FAFSA® income of $50,000 or less and, beginning with the Fall 2027 class, a FAFSA® income of $100,000 or less for students ranked in the Top 25% of their graduating high school class.”
How we worked these out
The family
A family of four with good parent credit and $500 a month to put toward college, and the savings you pick. In state, the grants are what Texas State University reports families at that income got, on average. Your own will differ, and a family with no aid pays close to the full price. Out of state, there are no grants: the price is before any scholarship from the college.
What a SmartTuition plan saves
The difference, over four years, between a SmartTuition plan and the standard approach: savings first, then loans for the rest. It counts loan interest and the federal tax credit.
The $6,200 in the “Pay less for college” box near the top of this page is the median saving in Texas State University's own scenarios. Each scenario is a household that lives in Texas, with an income from $45,000 to $200,000 and savings of none, $40,000 or $100,000 in a 529. We price Texas State University at the aid it reports for that income.
Every scenario has parents with good credit and $500 a month toward college. The card above uses the same two. A scenario where the parents would borrow more than $65,000 is left out.
The prices by income
- They describe students who got aid.
- “Over $110,000” has no upper limit, so it averages families just over $110,000 with far wealthier ones. A family at $115,000 should expect to pay less than it shows.
- Each range is reported on its own, so the prices do not always rise with income.
Where the prices come from
Where the prices come from: Texas State University's own 2026-27 tuition, fees, housing, food and books, from its website, carried forward to 2027 at 3.0% a year. The grants are the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard (2025-26 figures), carried forward the same way. Each price after grants is the cost less those grants. The out-of-state figure uses the published out-of-state tuition instead. The average price after grants counts the students who get federal aid. Your own figure will be different.
SmartTuition.ai is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Texas State University. Aid policies change; check current terms with the college's aid office.
Nearby at your income
- Texas A&M International$14,372 a year
- East Texas A&M University$14,572 a year
- Texas State University$15,538 a year
- UT Arlington$15,705 a year
- University of Houston$15,708 a year
What each college charges, less the average grant for your income. Every Texas college →