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Real costs by region · Southwest · families earning under $30,000

25 Southwest colleges under $10,000 a year — if you earn under $30,000.

Across 117 Southwest colleges, families earning under $30,000 paid between $2,949 and $39,171 a year. The 25 cheapest are all under $10,000 — and 2 of them are private.

School	Type	Admit	Sticker / yr	This band paidPaid
Texas A&M University-Central Texas	Public	100%	$14,187	$2,949
Texas A & M International University	Public	44%	$15,558	$3,097
Eastern New Mexico University-Main Campus	Public	92%	$18,940	$3,663
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley	Public	94%	$16,830	$3,785
University of North Texas at Dallas	Public	84%	$20,064	$4,713
Louisiana State University at Alexandria	Public	92%	$15,550	$5,008
Southeastern Oklahoma State University	Public	76%	$18,594	$5,193
Texas A&M University-Victoria	Public	96%	$21,401	$5,317
University of Tulsa	Private	62%	$64,459	$5,578
Louisiana State University-Shreveport	Public	51%	$19,461	$5,680
Rice University	Private	8%	$79,788	$5,827
Northwestern Oklahoma State University	Public	65%	$18,672	$6,439
New Mexico State University-Main Campus	Public	89%	$23,274	$6,648
University of Arkansas Community College-Morrilton	Public	100%	$15,362	$7,073
University of Houston-Clear Lake	Public	91%	$24,622	$7,330
Lamar University	Public	86%	$22,254	$7,568
Louisiana Tech University	Public	86%	$24,280	$7,676
The University of Texas at El Paso	Public	100%	$19,836	$7,863
The University of Texas at San Antonio	Public	87%	$22,352	$7,870
East Central University	Public	58%	$18,459	$8,151
Midwestern State University	Public	94%	$22,652	$8,856
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith	Public	80%	$19,048	$8,890
Arizona State University Campus Immersion	Public	90%	$30,111	$9,070
University of Houston-Downtown	Public	90%	$20,749	$9,439
Texas A&M University-San Antonio	Public	93%	$21,655	$9,596

"Paid" is the average net price reported to the U.S. Department of Education for aided families at under $30,000 household income — planning data, not an offer. Public colleges show in-state prices; out-of-state families typically pay more. Colleges enrolling fewer than 1,000 students are excluded, because federal price cells at very small schools are volatile enough to manufacture patterns that disappear at scale. A low price and a low admit rate are different things — the admit column is there so the two are never confused.

Same region, different income

$30,000–$48,000 · $48,000–$75,000 · $75,000–$110,000 · over $110,000

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