Texas Degree Pays Off for 76%, but Costs Bite

Texas students need 31 hours of weekly work to cover average public college net price, a gap families should weigh before enrolling.

Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Financial Aid

Gouache-painted editorial illustration of a tall stack of gold coins beside a plain clock face on a cream background, evoking the tradeoff between college cost and work hours. — Texas students need about 31 hours of work each week to cover the average in-state public college net price, a Strada Education Foundation report released November 10 found. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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A new Strada Education Foundation report finds that a bachelor's degree pays off within 10 years for more than 75% of Texans, while Texas lags other states in keeping a four-year degree affordable. The analysis, released November 10, 2026, is aimed at current and prospective Texas college students and their families.

Why it matters

For Texas students weighing a four-year degree, the report shows that the financial return depends heavily on cost, since the average in-state public college net price requires substantial part-time work to cover. Researchers highlighted the gap as a reason to focus on affordability now, when Texas public universities have frozen tuition for four years.

Net price includes tuition, housing, books and food, minus all grants and scholarship awards. Low-income students are defined as students whose families earn $30,000 or less per year.

The players

Strada Education Foundation

A nonprofit focused on postsecondary education and workforce outcomes that produced the Texas degree payoff analysis.

The details

Strada calculated payoff by comparing the earnings gains a degree produces against what the degree costs over 10 years. Researchers then translated net price into work hours by dividing it by a median student wage, which produced the 31-hour figure for the average in-state student and the 18-hour figure for low-income students. Net price is what remains after grants and scholarships are subtracted from the full cost of attendance, so students with less aid face a higher effective price. The analysis shows how much of that cost a student would need to earn through work.

Strada released its annual report on Texas college payoff on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
Texas public universities have frozen tuition for the last four years.

Education Landscape

The Strada findings place Texas within the broader debate over whether a degree still pays for itself as college costs rise. Texas lagging other states on affordability is notable against a backdrop in which the state outpaced the nation in overall job creation last year.

If you are weighing a Texas degree, compare the net price a school quotes you with the sticker price, since grants and scholarships change what you will actually pay. Ask the school's financial-aid office how many hours of work a typical student in your situation would need to cover the remaining cost.

The takeaway

A degree's value for Texans depends on how much it costs net of aid, not only on its sticker price. Before you enroll, ask a financial-aid office for your estimated net price and the work hours it would require.