# What UT Austin charged, and who pays less after aid

A reconstruction of undergraduate tuition and fees since 2003, by college and residency, with family net prices through 2024–25.

Evidence cutoff: 2026-10-30

Text export accompanying the research data. Chart inputs and detailed source records are included in this archive.

**Latest-year verification update (November 1, 2026):** The official October 15, 2026 institutional Scorecard bulk file reproduces all five 2024–25 income-band values from the original API extract. Its current cohort dictionary confirms the net-price academic year and distinguishes it from the 2025–26 tuition fields. The other 80 income values were independently matched to NCES. The NCES 2025 report has not been obtained. [Official bulk file](https://ed-public-download.scorecard.network/downloads/Most-Recent-Cohorts-Institution_10152026.zip); [cohort dictionary](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/files/CollegeScorecardDataDictionary.xlsx); [curated check and exact field-year mapping](/research/deep-research/ut-tuition-scorecard-20261015.json).

## The answer changes with residency, college and the measure of price

UT Austin became much more expensive for new nonresident undergraduates after Texas deregulated designated tuition in 2003. The result for Texas residents is narrower. Liberal Arts tuition and mandatory fees rose from $5,378 in 2003–04 to $10,858 today: roughly double in dollars, but about 15% higher after inflation through 2025–26. Starting the comparison in 2005–06 reverses the resident result: Liberal Arts is about 6% cheaper in real terms, Business about 7% more expensive, and Engineering about 2% more expensive.

The price after grants moved differently. Among resident first-time, full-time students receiving federal aid, the latest reported net cost is 25% to 47% below 2008–09 in the four income bands below $110,001, measured in 2025 dollars. The top band's real cost is essentially unchanged. These are changing groups within fixed dollar income bands, not the same families followed over time.

Three findings deserve particular attention. The overall federal net-price average conceals part of the recent reduction because the income composition of its recipients changed. A 2021 full-pay Texas-resident Liberal Arts entrant who bought the optional four-year tuition guarantee would have paid $5,084 more than under traditional tuition, assuming eligibility for all applicable rebates. And the university's reported 29.8% fall in net tuition revenue in FY2025 crosses an accounting-method change; it cannot establish a 29.8% reduction in families' costs.

The reconstruction contains 566 standard college/residency/year observations, including 534 complete fee bundles; 85 income-band net-price observations; the alternative tuition plans; and the sources and calculations behind each result. Current rates run through 2026–27, while the latest reported family net-price year is 2024–25. No public data located provide a complete college × residency × income panel of actual payments.

Sources: [UT's current rate tables](https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/), archived rate schedules in the dataset, [College Scorecard](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/), and [BLS CPI](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm). All percentage changes above are calculations from those records.

## What the existing work established, and where it stops

The useful public material falls into four groups.

| Source | What it establishes | What it cannot establish on its own |
|---|---|---|
| UT catalogs and One Stop | The applicable tuition schedule and a current cost-of-attendance budget | What every family ultimately pays |
| College Scorecard and IPEDS | Historical net-price averages for defined student cohorts | An exact bill for a particular major, family or nonresident student |
| Regents records, legislation and UT announcements | Authority, approved increases, freezes and aid eligibility | The causal effect on enrollment or the amount of new aid per recipient |
| Academic research | Evidence on pricing, program choice and credible aid guarantees | A complete annual UT college-level billing history |

Search results often give a single resident tuition figure around $11,700. UT's actual 2026–27 schedule ranges from $10,858 to $13,576. A university-level statistic, a particular college's tariff and a personalized calculator answer different questions. Published differentials are already included in the college tables; adding them again overstates the bill. [UT explains both the range and the inclusion of differentials](https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/).

Even two federal net-price headlines can legitimately differ. For 2023–24, UT reported $17,942 for resident first-time, full-time grant recipients and $19,857 for the corresponding Title IV aid population, which also includes students receiving only federal loans. The income-band table belongs to the second population. A disagreement between webpages need not be an arithmetic error; their denominators may differ. [Official NCES report](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/reported-data/html/228778?year=2024&surveyNumber=19&viewmode=print).

The broad claim that higher sticker prices can coexist with better opportunities for poor students is already established research. Andrews and Stange's 2019 Texas study found poor students shifted toward higher-earning programs relative to nonpoor students after deregulation, with increased aid and resources among the possible mechanisms. That statewide finding is not a UT-specific causal estimate. [Published paper](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20170306).

The addition here is the UT-specific reconciliation: semester schedules, college differentials, entering cohorts, income-specific net prices, changes in the measured population, and university accounting. Opportunity Insights offers the right discipline for the access question: distinguish who reaches an institution from what happens after attendance. Its historical mobility records should not be presented as an evaluation of a 2025 aid expansion. [Mobility Report Cards](https://opportunityinsights.org/paper/undermatching/).

## The largest increases came early; the later freezes changed the comparison

The first two years require more care than a simple annual series suggests. Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences already had bundled flat-rate pilots. Most other colleges charged per-credit tuition, university fees, program charges and course fees. Their published estimates excluded some course-specific costs. The dataset retains those components and marks the all-in annual price missing rather than inventing a course basket.

The first deregulated academic year also had two prices. A resident Liberal Arts student paid $2,508 in fall 2003 and $2,870 in spring 2004: $5,378 for the year. Doubling the fall charge would miss $362. From 2005–06, the comprehensive flat-rate schedule provides the cleaner all-college comparison.

By 2011–12, resident Liberal Arts tuition had reached $9,346, and resident Business $10,738. Those amounts remained unchanged through 2015–16. Resident rates rose again later in the decade; a general increase and new differentials took effect in 2020–21. The current major-college resident rates have been unchanged since 2021–22. UT's current notice explicitly freezes resident undergraduate academic charges through 2026–27. [2012 Regents decision](https://www.utsystem.edu/news/2012/05/16/chancellors-perspective-board-of-regents-and-ut-systems-commitment-advancing-university-of-texas-at-austin); [2019 tuition decision](https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/learn-more-about-tuition/how-is-tuition-set/); [current freeze](https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/tuition-rates/).

An unchanged dollar bill is a real-price cut when other prices rise. Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, the same $10,858 resident Liberal Arts charge fell about 15.8% in purchasing-power terms. Relative to 2011–12, resident Liberal Arts is about 18.8% cheaper and Business 11.7% cheaper in 2025 dollars.

Nonresident prices tell a different long-run story. Liberal Arts rose from $12,026 in 2003–04 to $42,554, about 102% after inflation through 2025–26. Much of that increase occurred before 2011. Its real price since 2011–12 is about 4% lower; nonresident Business is essentially unchanged over that later interval. There is no single annual growth rate that describes the entire period honestly.

The nonresident series follows the price offered to a new entrant each year. Older cohorts sometimes paid substantially less. In 2007–08, for example, Liberal Arts had semester nonresident prices of $8,689, $9,160 and $12,272 for different entry cohorts. The main history uses $12,272; the alternatives remain in the dataset. It does not imply that every continuing student received the newest entrant's increase.

## The price of choosing a college has widened

Twenty years of resident price changes look modest once the college and inflation are held consistent. Nonresident changes are considerably larger.

| Program and residency | 2005–06, in 2025 dollars | 2025–26 price | Real change |
|---|---:|---:|---:|
| Liberal Arts, resident | $11,493 | $10,858 | −5.5% |
| Business, resident | $12,713 | $13,576 | +6.8% |
| Engineering, resident | $12,667 | $12,968 | +2.4% |
| Liberal Arts, nonresident entrant | $26,886 | $42,554 | +58.3% |
| Business, nonresident entrant | $28,617 | $51,106 | +78.6% |
| Engineering, nonresident entrant | $28,254 | $48,394 | +71.3% |

The current annual resident Business premium over Liberal Arts is $2,718, or 25.0%. Engineering's premium is $2,110; Natural Sciences' is $908. Nonresident Business costs $8,552 more than nonresident Liberal Arts. These are total schedule differences, not merely the newest surcharge.

In 2019–20, the resident Business premium was $1,538. It rose to $2,678 in 2020–21, then $2,718 in 2021–22. The Regents' decision added $550 per semester for resident Business and Engineering, and $250 for Natural Sciences, alongside a general increase. Nonresident additions were twice those amounts. The amounts are embedded in published rates. [Official explanation](https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/).

Who bears the premium depends on aid. A full-pay student faces the schedule difference. An eligible student whose grants are adjusted to cover applicable tuition need not pay that difference personally. Public institution-level income averages cannot tell us how much of each college premium its students actually paid.

The lookup retains college names as published. A missing historical row means no separate verified price was found in that year's schedule; it does not mean the college did not exist or charged zero.

## The discount was part of deregulation from the beginning

Texas did not abolish all tuition regulation in 2003. HB 3015 removed the prior cap on designated tuition and gave governing boards more pricing discretion. Statutory tuition remained a separate legislative charge. The original bill also required aid set-asides; its resident-undergraduate requirement was 20% of designated tuition above $46 per credit hour, not the 15% institutional requirement commonly described today. [Enrolled HB 3015](https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/78R/billtext/html/HB03015F.htm); [Comptroller explanation](https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/archive/2015/november/setaside.php).

UT's November 2003 proposal paired higher prices with additional aid: it proposed shielding families below $40,000 from the increase, charging families at $40,001–$60,000 one-quarter of it, and those at $60,001–$80,000 one-half. This was a proposed protection against an increase, not a promise of free tuition or evidence that every intended award was delivered. The architecture of charging some students more while discounting others was present at deregulation. [Contemporary proposal, UT Austin analysis](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/offices/board-of-regents/board-meetings/board-minutes/attachments/11-03tuitionproposals.pdf).

Texas Advance Commitment later made that promise broader and easier to describe.

| Effective fall | Full tuition coverage through family AGI | Some tuition support through AGI |
|---|---:|---:|
| 2018 | $30,000 | $100,000 |
| 2020 | $65,000 | $125,000 |
| 2025 | $100,000 | $125,000 |

The initial 2018 announcement concerned incoming freshmen; a September announcement extended aid to eligible continuing students. The 2020 expansion included transfers and continuing students. These are eligibility thresholds, not measured average grants or counts of additional students who enrolled. Sources: [2018 launch](https://news.utexas.edu/2018/04/20/ut-increases-aid-to-low-and-middle-income-families/), [2018 continuing students](https://news.utexas.edu/2018/09/13/fenves-unveils-more-financial-aid-in-state-of-the-university/), [2020 expansion authorization](https://news.utexas.edu/2019/07/09/regents-make-ut-austin-even-more-affordable-2/), [2025 expansion](https://news.utexas.edu/2024/11/22/ut-estimates-3000-more-students-to-receive-free-tuition-starting-in-fall-25/).

Today, the guarantee counts federal and state grants first. UT fills any remaining tuition shortfall with institutional grants or scholarships. It is not automatically a new award equal to tuition added on top of Pell. Eligibility also requires Texas residency, demonstrated financial need, an aid application, a first bachelor's degree and continuing academic eligibility. The general program does not cover summer. [Current TAC terms](https://admissions.utexas.edu/cost-aid/financial-aid/texas-advance-commitment/).

Free tuition leaves other costs. UT's 2026–27 budget allows $21,650–$21,810 for housing, food, books, transport and personal expenses for a student living away from parents. That is a budget allowance, not another university invoice or the actual net cost of every TAC recipient. Additional grants may cover part of it. The published 2025–26 on-campus housing scholarship was $2,500 for full-coverage TAC students and $1,500 for partial-support students with eligible contracts. That dated amount should not be silently assigned to 2026–27. [Cost budget](https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/cost-of-attendance/); [housing scholarship terms](https://admissions.utexas.edu/cost-aid/financial-aid/texas-advance-commitment/).

## Lower-income net prices fell, but the newest year changes the story

The federal income series begins in 2008–09, not 2003. It measures a cost-of-attendance budget minus federal, state/local and institutional grants for resident first-time, full-time undergraduates receiving Title IV aid. The calculation applies the same living-arrangement-weighted cost budget for that Title IV cohort to every income band, then subtracts the band's average qualifying grants. Loans do not reduce the price. Neither does work-study. It is not a survey of actual household spending, and it excludes most transfers, continuing students, nonresident-rate students and students outside federal aid. [NCES definitions](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/faq-average-net-price).

The latest-year column below now agrees with the current official Scorecard bulk file and academic-year dictionary. The independent NCES 2025 report cross-check remains pending.

| Family-income band | 2008–09 net price, 2025 dollars | 2024–25 net price, 2025 dollars | Real change | Latest nominal price |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| $0–$30,000 | $12,238 | $9,215 | −24.7% | $8,979 |
| $30,001–$48,000 | $15,906 | $9,569 | −39.8% | $9,324 |
| $48,001–$75,000 | $24,088 | $12,739 | −47.1% | $12,412 |
| $75,001–$110,000 | $30,210 | $21,919 | −27.4% | $21,357 |
| Above $110,000 | $31,349 | $31,282 | −0.2% | $30,480 |

These are fixed nominal income bands. A $30,000 income in 2008 had roughly $43,700 of purchasing power in 2024. The table therefore compares reported groups, not identical real-income households. The broad top band also includes very different families. For that group, 'essentially unchanged' is more defensible than treating a 0.2% difference as meaningful.

The path was not a steady decline. The lowest band's real net price was $17,319 in 2019–20 and $13,263 in 2023–24, both above its $12,238 starting value. Its latest figure then fell to $9,215 in 2025 dollars. An article ending one year earlier would reach a different conclusion about this band's long-run direction.

In nominal dollars, the newest low-income decline is $3,574, from $12,553 to $8,979. The cohort's cost budget rose $704; implied average grant aid for that band rose $4,278. That explains the arithmetic, not the responsible program. The decline belongs to 2024–25, before the $100,000 TAC threshold began in fall 2025. It cannot be evidence of that expansion's effect. NCES records no additional Cost survey changes for this collection, but FAFSA and Pell eligibility did change. Those rules and changes in the recipients could affect the result without a change in the reporting formula. [NCES survey changes](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/report-your-data/archived-changes); [2024–25 federal aid changes](https://fsapartners.ed.gov/fsa-print/publication/1005218).

The newest five observations were initially read from the federal API and are now corroborated by the official October 15, 2026 Scorecard bulk release and cohort dictionary, checked November 1. The other 80 observations have been independently matched to NCES records. The 2025 NCES report endpoint returned an error; that independent cross-check remains unavailable. [College Scorecard data](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/); [2023–24 underlying NCES Cost report](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/reported-data/html/228778?year=2024&surveyNumber=19&viewmode=print).

## The headline average conceals part of the price reduction

The federal overall average fell only $1,303 in 2024–25, from $19,857 to $18,554. That is much less than the declines within the four lower income bands. The reason is partly arithmetic: the average changed both because prices changed and because the measured students changed.

Students above $110,000 rose from 27.50% to 34.72% of the Title IV cohort, with counts rising from 1,028 to 1,460. Those students pay the highest net price. This does not prove that UT admitted a richer class. Federal borrowing, aid eligibility, FAFSA completion and participation can alter this sample independently of the income distribution of all freshmen.

Hold the previous year's five income shares constant. The new band prices then produce an average of $16,993, a $2,864 decline. Applying the new shares adds about $1,561 back, bringing the average to $18,554. The dataset also provides a symmetric decomposition that divides the interaction equally; its within-band effect is −$2,709 and composition effect +$1,406. The substantive result is the same.

For the full 2008–09 to 2024–25 period, the published real average fell 14.2%. Holding 2008–09 income shares constant produces a 25.1% decline. Holding the latest shares constant instead produces a 19.5% decline. Thus the finding survives either endpoint weighting choice, although its size changes.

This adjusted series removes one source of composition change. It does not hold exact income, college, household size or aid rules constant. It should be read as a price comparison within the five federal bands, not a causal effect or an exact 'same family' estimate. Source: calculations from the income means and recipient counts in [College Scorecard](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/), using the [NCES cohort definitions](https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/Search/ViewTable?tableId=32476).

## The optional price guarantee cost more when traditional tuition stayed flat

A full-pay Texas resident entering Liberal Arts in fall 2021 could choose $5,429 per semester under traditional tuition or $6,377 under Longhorn Fixed Tuition, guaranteed for four consecutive academic years. The traditional charge remained $5,429 throughout those four years.

| Eight fall/spring semesters | Traditional | Fixed plan |
|---|---:|---:|
| Tuition and mandatory fees | $43,432 | $51,016 |
| Rebates, assuming all requirements met | $1,000 | $3,500 |
| Cost after rebates | $42,432 | $47,516 |

The fixed plan cost $7,584 more before rebates, or $5,084 more after the additional $2,500 fixed-plan rebate. Deducting the full $3,500 from the price gap would be wrong: qualifying traditional-plan residents could also receive $1,000.

This is a retrospective schedule-based case, assuming eight full-time semesters in the same college, no summers and no aid. It is not a count of affected students or their average actual payments. The plan insured against increases that did not occur; hindsight alone does not establish that the original choice was unreasonable. Sources: [2021–22 rates](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tables-tuition-for-fall-and-spring/), [2021 guarantee terms](https://web.archive.org/web/20210725112252id_/https://onestop.utexas.edu/managing-costs/cost-tuition-rates/cost-of-attendance/), and [2021 rebate rules](https://catalog.utexas.edu/archive/2021-22/general-information/registration-tuition-and-fees/tuition-and-fees/tuition-adjustments/#longhornfixedtuitionrebates).

## A tuition dollar enters a funding pool; a net revenue dollar is an accounting measure

The adopted FY2027 budget records $825.7 million in gross tuition and fees: $137.744 million in Educational and General funds and $687.956 million in Designated funds. After its discount adjustment, budgeted net tuition is $398.4 million. These figures cover the entire institution, all levels and residencies. They are not a tally of resident undergraduate household payments. [Adopted operating budget, B.1–B.5](https://utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/report-state/2026/annual-operating-budget-ut-austin/fy-2027-university-of-texas-at-austin.pdf).

Tuition joins other resources. The same budget includes $640.675 million in Available University Fund transfers. The university's spending mix does not tell us that an identical fraction of each tuition dollar pays salaries, research or administration. Exact source-to-use tracing requires fund-level restrictions and transfers. A university-wide expense pie cannot supply that allocation.

The recent financial statements contain a more consequential trap.

| UT Austin, all students and programs | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---:|---:|
| Gross tuition and fees | $765.0m | $804.8m |
| Discounts and allowances | $211.9m | $416.5m |
| Calculated net tuition revenue | $553.1m | $388.3m |

The calculated net falls 29.8%. But FY2025 introduced a new method that allocates institutional aid to tuition first, with excess classified as scholarship expense. The prior year's tuition lines were not recast. The method change leaves change in net position unaffected; it changes the presentation of revenue and expense.

Consequently, this comparison cannot measure a 29.8% reduction in family costs. Nor can the entire movement be assigned to accounting: an Austin-specific same-method bridge is still needed. The source is the audited [UT System FY2025 report, Note 4 and Austin Exhibit B](https://www.utsystem.edu/sites/default/files/documents/report-state/2025/consolidated-annual-financial-report-fy-2025/uts-fy25-and-fy24-audit-reportfinal121125.pdf), printed pages 44 and 162. The original FY2024 figures were separately checked against [UT's annual report archive](https://utexas.box.com/v/annual-financial-reports).

There are therefore three separate quantities: posted charges, student cost after grants, and university revenue after accounting allowances. None should be substituted for another.

## Credible aid guarantees changed enrollment in a randomized test

UT's all-undergraduate Pell share rose from 22.62% in 2017–18 to 28.64% in 2024–25. The first-time, full-time Pell series fluctuated, including 29.24% in 2020–21 and 28.58% in 2024–25. Those figures are compatible with broader access, but Pell rules, FAFSA participation, admissions and demographics also changed. Beneficiary growth after an income-threshold expansion can simply mean existing students became eligible. [Federal aid series](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/data/).

A stronger test appeared in October 2026. Giani and colleagues randomized schools serving 547 low-income, high-achieving students. Treatment letters guaranteed tuition coverage, first-year on-campus placement and a $1,800 housing scholarship before application; controls received encouragement. Applications were 59% versus 40%, and enrollment 19% versus 6%. Among automatically admissible students, enrollment was 30% versus 11%.

Roughly 90% were already income-eligible for TAC. The intervention combined information, earlier certainty and reduced eligibility burdens. It did not offer free housing, isolate each component, or estimate the campus-wide effect of TAC's launch or later thresholds. Its lesson is narrower and useful: an existing benefit can change decisions when students receive a credible guarantee in time to act. [Final published study](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/01623737261482127).

## How the reconstruction can be checked

**Unit of comparison.** Undergraduate fall-plus-spring academic charges for 15 credits per semester, using the full-time flat rate where 12 or more credits share one price. Summer, optional fees, deposits, international health insurance/orientation and special field-trip costs are excluded. International students generally face the nonresident academic tariff, but their additional charges prevent treating it as a complete international-student budget. Pharmacy rows from older undergraduate tables are retained in the all-plans archive rather than mixed into the standard bachelor's panel.

**Coverage.** Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences have complete annual bundles for all 24 years from 2003–04 through 2026–27. Other published undergraduate college prices are complete from 2005–06. Thirty-two earlier college/residency observations retain known subtotals but no fabricated all-in amount. The 1,025-row all-plans file retains grandfathered nonresident cohorts and fixed-plan observations beginning in 2015–16; it does not claim exhaustive fixed-plan coverage from inception. Net price contains five income bands for 17 years, 2008–09 through 2024–25. No income-band values were invented for 2003–08.

**Source repair.** The archived 2012–13 catalog contains inconsistent nonresident tables, including resident amounts repeated in a nonresident section. The catalog PDF repeats the problem. Those rows were replaced with the original Student Accounts Receivable rate sheet, which gives $15,878 per semester for nonresident Liberal Arts. The repair and archived originals are recorded in the dataset.

**Inflation.** All real comparisons use the U.S. CPI-U, all items, annual average: nominal amount multiplied by 321.943 divided by the CPI in the academic year's starting calendar year. This is an explicit start-year convention. Real tuition comparisons end in 2025–26 because a complete 2026 annual CPI is unavailable; current 2026–27 rates are shown in nominal dollars. A different reasonable academic-year convention would move small comparisons, especially the top income band's near-zero change. [BLS source](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/data.htm).

**Federal year and cohort checks.** Scorecard's 2025 record pairs 2025–26 tuition with 2024–25 net price. The income panel corrects that lag. All 80 income observations through 2023–24 match underlying NCES reports. Their cost budgets minus net prices also equal reported grant averages. All 17 recipient-weighted overall means reproduce the federal headline within $0.50, the expected rounding difference. The latest five API readings now agree with the current official Scorecard bulk file and documented year mapping. The NCES 2025 report has not been obtained. [Scorecard documentation](https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/files/InstitutionDataDocumentation.pdf).

**Income standardization.** The adjusted mean is the sum of each band's net price multiplied by a fixed reference-year recipient share. Both 2008–09 and 2024–25 weights are provided. The latest-year decomposition also holds 2023–24 shares fixed before applying the new shares. These are transparent arithmetic comparisons; they do not solve selection, within-band changes, or causal attribution.

**What the data do not show.** An income-level federal average cannot be attached to every college as if grants were uniform. Nor does it identify nonresident net prices by income, transfer students' net prices or actual household cash payments. Tax credits, private outside scholarships, forgone earnings and repayment timing are outside this federal net-price measure. A loan finances a cost; it does not remove it.

## The records that would settle the unresolved questions

Three targeted records would improve the answer materially.

1. An anonymized annual table of billed tuition, mandatory fees and grants by college, residency, entry cohort, income band and credit load, with scholarship sources identified. This would show who actually bears each college premium and include students missing from the federal freshman sample.
2. A reconciliation of FY2024 and FY2025 tuition revenue and scholarship expense under the same accounting method. This would separate real aid or enrollment changes from the reporting change.
3. Applicant, admit and enrollment counts by income, residency and eligibility around TAC's changes, with FAFSA completion and appropriate comparison groups. That would test whether broader eligibility changed who entered UT, rather than just who received aid after enrolling.

Revised federal values could change the newest endpoint. Constant-real-income student records could change the interpretation of the fixed-band declines. A same-method accounting bridge could reveal a real revenue movement beneath the classification shift. The current evidence supports the narrower findings already shown: residency and college drove very different sticker-price paths; measured lower-income net costs fell in the latest federal year; and headline averages alone conceal who bore the change.