UT Austin · Net price calculator
UT Austin Net Price Calculator
UT Austin publishes an official net price calculator on its Office of Financial Services site that estimates the price you pay after institutional grants and scholarships (separate from the sticker tuition). For 2025-26, sticker tuition is $11,688/year for Texas residents and $44,908/year for non-residents. After institutional aid the in-state net price often drops materially for families under $100K AGI through Texas Advance Commitment. For out-of-state families, the single biggest net-price reduction available is not aid; it is the Texas residency pathway that converts the non-resident classification to resident, saving approximately $33,220/year.
UT's official net price calculator
UT Austin's official Net Price Calculator is hosted at npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/utaustin. It takes about 10-15 minutes to complete. You will need:
- Adjusted Gross Income from your most recent federal tax return
- Untaxed income and benefits
- Cash, savings, and checking balance
- Investment value (excluding retirement accounts and primary residence)
- Family size and number of family members in college
- Student academic profile (GPA, test scores)
- Student state of residence
The output is an estimate of your expected family contribution and the institutional grant aid UT would likely award. It does not commit UT to any specific aid package; the actual aid offer comes after admission and FAFSA filing.
What the net price calculator does not capture
UT's calculator is solid for what it does, but several substantial cost levers fall outside its scope:
The Texas residency reclassification pathway
For an out-of-state family, the calculator assumes the student remains classified as a non-resident. It does not model the family establishing Texas residency through the property pathway under Texas Education Code §54.052. That pathway is worth approximately $33,220/year starting in year 2 of enrollment (the typical scenario), totaling roughly $99,660 over the remaining time at UT. For most middle and upper-income out-of-state families, this is the largest single net-price reduction available — substantially larger than any institutional aid they would qualify for as non-residents. Full details on the residency pathway here.
Major-specific differential tuition
Net price calculators use the base undergraduate cost of attendance. Engineering, McCombs Business, and Computer Science students pay an additional $2,500-$3,700/year in differential tuition. The calculator may underestimate by that margin if your student is in a high-differential major. See the per-college pages: Engineering, McCombs, CS.
Merit and college-specific scholarships
The official calculator estimates need-based institutional aid only. Merit awards (Forty Acres Scholarship, Terry Scholarship, departmental merit awards, athletic scholarships) are decided separately and not captured. For high-academic students competing for Forty Acres or similar, the actual net price can be substantially lower than the calculator estimates.
Outside scholarships
National Merit, Coca-Cola Scholars, Gates Scholars, local foundation awards, and corporate scholarships are not part of UT's calculator output. Many out-of-state families end up with $5,000-$25,000/year of outside scholarship aid not modeled in the official estimate.
Estimated net price ranges by family income
For a baseline, here is a rough framework for net price estimation at UT Austin (full-time undergraduate, on-campus housing, 2025-26 cost of attendance):
| Family AGI | In-State Net Price/Year | Non-Resident Net Price/Year |
|---|---|---|
| Under $40,000 | ~$0-$8,000 (Texas Empowerment + Pell) | ~$60,000-$75,000 (federal aid only) |
| $40,000 - $65,000 | ~$5,000-$15,000 (Texas Empowerment + partial) | ~$65,000-$80,000 |
| $65,000 - $100,000 | ~$15,000-$25,000 (Texas Advance Commitment) | ~$70,000-$85,000 |
| $100,000 - $200,000 | ~$25,000-$35,000 | ~$80,000-$88,000 |
| $200,000 - $400,000 | ~$32,000-$38,000 (sticker) | ~$80,000-$90,000 (sticker) |
| Over $400,000 | ~$32,000-$38,000 (sticker) | ~$80,000-$90,000 (sticker) |
These are rough estimates. The official calculator output will be more precise for your specific family. Notable: at higher income levels the in-state net price converges with the sticker because institutional aid phases out. The same is true for non-residents at all income levels.
The single largest net-price lever for out-of-state families
The non-aid path to a lower net price
For an out-of-state family above the federal Pell Grant threshold, the realistic net-price reduction from institutional aid is small — often $0-$5,000/year. The realistic net-price reduction from Texas residency reclassification is approximately $$33,220/year. The residency pathway is roughly an order of magnitude larger than the aid pathway for most out-of-state families.
The way this looks in practice: an out-of-state family considering UT Austin runs the official net price calculator, gets a four-year net price estimate around $300,000-$340,000 (sticker minus modest aid), and concludes UT is too expensive vs an in-state public option. The piece they did not factor in is that one year of paid out-of-state tuition followed by three years of Texas residency reclassification can bring the four-year tuition portion down by approximately $99,660. That reduction is not in any net price calculator UT publishes.
The math for a typical out-of-state Property Pathway family looks roughly like:
- Year 1: Out-of-state tuition + COA = ~$80,000-$90,000
- Years 2-4: In-state tuition + COA = ~$32,000-$38,000/year
- Four-year total: ~$176,000-$204,000
- Without residency pathway (4 years OOS): ~$320,000-$360,000
- Savings: approximately $144,000-$156,000 over four years
This calculation assumes the family already has the capital to acquire Texas property (typical purchase: $400K-$500K West Campus condo) and treats the property as housing + a residency vehicle. The condo doubles as the student's housing across the four years, replacing $13,000-$25,000/year of dorm or off-campus rent. Net of housing costs, the residency pathway saves most families substantially more than the official net price calculator would suggest.
How to use UT's official net price calculator alongside the residency pathway analysis
- Run UT's official calculator first. Get the baseline net price estimate at your current residency classification. This tells you UT's view of your need-based aid eligibility.
- If you are out-of-state and the official net price is too high, do not stop there. Model the residency pathway separately.
- Use our tuition calculator to project the four-year tuition cost with and without residency reclassification.
- Add the residency-pathway carrying costs. If the pathway requires buying Texas property, factor in mortgage interest, property tax, HOA, insurance, and maintenance. Typical: $30,000-$45,000/year for a $400-$500K West Campus condo.
- Net the housing replacement. The property doubles as housing, replacing whatever the student would have paid in dorm or off-campus rent.
- Result: a complete four-year net-price picture that includes both UT's aid math and the residency-pathway math.
Try the calculator on this site
Our tuition calculator on this site focuses specifically on the residency-pathway math: it lets you input your student's enrollment year, college, credit load, and residency timeline, and outputs a year-by-year four-year tuition projection with and without the residency reclassification.
For UT's official federal-mandate net price calculator, visit npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/utaustin.
Frequently asked questions
What is the net price calculator for UT Austin?
What is the difference between the net price calculator and the tuition calculator?
How accurate is the UT Austin net price calculator?
Does the net price calculator factor in the Texas residency pathway?
What is the lowest net price possible at UT Austin?
Does the net price include housing and meals?
Talk to Luke
Want a custom net-price scenario?
Send your student's specific situation (admit status, college, family financial picture in broad strokes) and Luke will reply with a written estimate that includes both the standard net-price math and the residency pathway.
Or send a message and Luke will reply in writing: