Greg Abbott orders 2026-27 tuition freeze at Texas colleges
greg abbott told Texas public college and university presidents not to raise undergraduate tuition or fees for the 2026-27 school year. In a Wednesday letter, he said his earlier directive remains "fully in effect" for all public two- and four-year schools, including health-related institutions.
Abbott said the freeze also covers undergraduate fees, not just tuition. He said he wants to work with state lawmakers next session to extend the freeze beyond next year, putting budget planning for the coming academic year back at the center of campus decisions.
Abbott's Wednesday letter
The governor sent the letter to public college and university presidents, reminding them that no undergraduate tuition or fees should increase for the 2026-27 school year. The directive repeats the position Abbott set out in November 2024, when he told colleges to keep tuition flat.
Texas lawmakers had already frozen undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years. Abbott pointed to that earlier action in his letter as he pressed schools to hold prices steady again.
Texas funding and tuition
Abbott cited recent state spending on higher education in support of keeping the freeze in place. Texas legislators approved more than $680 million in 2023 to overhaul community college funding, and they approved $328 million in increased financial aid funding in the 2025-27 budget cycle.
That spending gives the directive a sharper practical edge for school leaders now building tuition and fee schedules for the next academic year. The order covers every public two- and four-year institution in Texas, so campuses cannot treat it as a limited system-by-system directive.
UT System fee increases
The timing also lands after the University of Texas System regents approved non-academic mandatory fee increases for several campuses last week. Archie L. Holmes Jr., the system's executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, described the increases as "non-academic in nature" and "really well thought out" in his recommendation to regents.
At UT Rio Grande Valley, the university services fee would rise from $38.10 per semester credit hour to $70 per semester credit hour beginning in 2027. Holmes said the proposed increases would not raise the average cost of attendance at any affected campus by more than 3.7 percent, but Abbott's letter keeps undergraduate tuition and fees flat for next year while those campus changes move on a separate timetable.
