Gov. Greg Abbott to Texas colleges: don’t increase tuition, fees

Texas Governor Greg Abbott reiterated his order to public colleges and universities to maintain a freeze on undergraduate tuition and fees for the 2026-27 school year, stating in a letter sent Wednesday that his directive remains fully in effect. The freeze applies to all public two- and four-year institutions, including health-related schools, as Abbott seeks to extend the policy beyond next year during the upcoming legislative session. Abbott’s directive follows a pattern of tuition freezes implemented by the state: undergraduate tuition and fees were frozen for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years, with Abbott extending the measure in November 2024. The governor justified the freeze by highlighting recent state investments in higher education, including over $680 million for community college reforms in 2023 and $328 million in increased financial aid funding for the 2025-27 budget cycle. Despite the freeze, some institutions have proposed non-academic fee increases. The University of Texas System approved mandatory fee hikes for athletics, student services, medical services, and advising at several campuses, such as UT Rio Grande Valley, where the university services fee would rise from $38.10 to $70 per semester credit hour. UT System officials argued these fees were non-academic, though the increases would raise the average cost of attendance by no more than 3.7% according to system documents. Texas A&M University System also considered fee adjustments at Tarleton State University, including raising the health and wellness fee from $4.91 to a flat $75 per semester credit hour to expand student medical and mental health services, following reports of eight student suicides and rising hospitalizations. Students at Tarleton voted on the proposed changes, with 59% supporting the health and wellness fee increase and 51% backing a recreational and facilities fee hike from $100 to $125 per semester. Abbott’s letter does not differentiate between academic and non-academic fees, leaving ambiguity about whether proposed increases comply with his directive. Spokespeople for the UT and Texas A&M systems did not immediately clarify whether the fee changes apply to undergraduates or align with the governor’s order.