AUSTIN, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminded students and families that enrollment for the Texas Tuition Promise Fund, the state’s prepaid college tuition plan, opened on Friday and will run through Feb. 29, 2024. In celebration of the fund’s 15th year, the $25 application fee will be waived through September and October.

The Texas Tuition Promise Fund, which will celebrate its 15th year in September, was described by the Comptroller’s office as a chance for parents and loved ones to prepay for a child’s future tuition and required, schoolwide fees at Texas public libraries and universities at current prices, aside from medical and dental schools.

Those enrolled in the plan can purchase “tuition units” that can be put toward undergraduate resident tuition and required schoolwide fees. The Comptroller’s office noted that prices are based on current 2023-2024 academic year costs for Texas’s public colleges and universities, with different unit types including:

• Type I tuition units, priced for undergraduate resident tuition and required, schoolwide fees at the most expensive Texas public four-year university or college, cost $164.12 per unit.
• Type II tuition units, based on the weighted average cost of undergraduate resident tuition and required, schoolwide fees across Texas public four-year universities and colleges, cost $114.60 per unit.
• Type III tuition units, based on the weighted average cost of in-district tuition and required, schoolwide fees across Texas public two-year community colleges, cost $30.71 per unit.

Under the plan, 100 tuition units are the same as around one academic year of 30 semester hours of undergraduate resident tuition and required fees. The office said that participants can buy up to 600 Type I tuition units – around six academic years – or the dollar equivalent of Type II or III tuition units.

“Congratulations to the Texas Tuition Promise Fund on 15 years of helping families save for college,” said Hegar. “I am proud to have helped so many Texas families plan for a child’s future education. A college education can be one of the most important investments a family makes, but it can also be one of the most expensive. For 15 years, this program has given families an additional tool to manage that expense and save in a way that works for them.”

The Comptroller’s office detailed that the plan has flexible payment options with each contract, including:

• Lump-sum payments;
• Installment payments that include 6% interest; and
• Pay-as-you-go payments.

The pay-as-you-go payments, said the office, allow participants to gradually add more tuition units as their budget allows based on tuition unit prices at the time of purchase. Enrollment for a pay-as-you-go plan requires buying at least one tuition unit of any type, but future payments could be as low as $15.

Pricing estimates on the type and number of tuition units currently needed for any two- or four-year Texas public college or university can be found using an online calculator.

Otherwise, the office said that more information about the prepaid college tuition plan, including Texas residency requirements and how the plan’s Transfer Value can be used at medical and dental schools and in other universities or programs can be found here or by calling 800-445-4723. Further, information on how to register for free webinars about the plan as well as Texas Match the Promise Foundation scholarship opportunities can be found online here, with the next webinar set for Sept. 6.