Out-of-state universities are choosin’ Texas. Tarrant-area colleges hope students do, too

In front of business and higher education leaders on an October morning, Tarleton State University President James Hurley issued a warning: Pay attention to the universities outside Texas.

“They’re coming after the top 5 and 10% students,” Hurley said. “When we lose a student to an out-of-state institution, it’s much harder for us to attract them back to our state, in particular back to our region.”

Universities across much of the country are preparing for fewer students as falling births produce smaller high school classes. But that trend varies by region — and Texas and Florida face a steadier outlook than much of the country as two of only a few states where projected high school graduate numbers are increasing.

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projects 13% fewer high school graduates nationwide by 2041 compared to 2025, but Texas is projected to overtake California as the largest producer of high school graduates by 2033. Its numbers have gone up in part because of people migrating to Texas due in part to the state’s strong economy. 

Common App, an online college admission platform, recorded more than 140,000 Texas students submitting first-year applications through the platform during the 2025-26 application season, more than from any other state. 

All of that makes North Texas a coveted ground for out-of-state colleges. Recruiters based in the region build relationships with schools and help families consider offers that make out-of-state education affordable. 

Local universities can’t just sit back and wait for students to roll in. Instead, they are engaging in strong recruitment measures of their own.

“You’re entering an incredibly competitive market, and if there are students to be gotten, other schools are going to come in to compete as well,” said Robert Kelchen, a higher education finance professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

The options between in-state and out

The competition is visible along the highways. 

Billboards for Texas Wesleyan University, the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University line Interstate 35 West. On one purple TCU billboard, white and purple boots accompany the message: “There’s no place like TCU.”

Head east toward Dallas on Interstate 30, and the University of Oklahoma has a billboard of its own. 

For Carolyn Alvey’s family, the draw to an out-of-state college was the cost. All three of Alvey’s sons graduated from high school in Plano and eventually earned degrees at the University of Arkansas. 

Before entering college in 2021, Alvey’s youngest, Nathan, asked his mother to sit down with him and compare the cost of Texas A&M and Arkansas. 

The Alveys planned to cover most of their sons’ college expenses, but each had to save enough to pay for one semester of tuition. By Alvey’s calculation, Arkansas would cost Nathan about $2,500 less each year after scholarships — a potential $10,000 difference over four years. 

Arkansas’ current New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award covers 70% to 90% of the extra tuition charged to qualifying Texas freshmen, depending on the university’s GPA calculation. Students still owe resident tuition, any remaining nonresident charge and other expenses. 

Alvey initially wanted her sons closer to home. Fayetteville was about a five-hour drive, she said, and she worried about being far away when they needed her. But the scholarships were essential. 

“If they did not get that, they would not have been going to Arkansas,” she said. 

Out-of-state universities have varying motivations to recruit in Texas, Kelchen said. Some do so even when their home states expect more graduates. A school with empty seats may need more students to help cover its costs. A selective one that can fill its class may seek stronger academic records, students who can pay more or connections to employers and future donors. 

Public universities usually charge nonresidents more, but scholarships can bring the actual cost below the advertised price.

“Getting some money can be better than getting no money,” Kelchen said. 

“You’re entering an incredibly competitive market, and if there are students to be gotten, other schools are going to come in to compete as well.”

Robert Kelchen
higher education finance professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville

For Arkansas, recruiting in Texas starts with people who live here. 

The university has four Texas regional recruiters: one each in Fort Worth and Dallas and two in Houston, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. Its Fort Worth recruiter covers Tarrant, Denton and Parker counties, among other territories. An Austin-based recruiter is being considered. 

A local regional recruiter can respond when a high school counselor has a student to introduce. They can meet a student at a Starbucks after school or help a family plan a visit, McCray said. 

The Dallas/Fort Worth Admissions Regional Network coordinates that approach by non-North Texas colleges through school presentations, lunch visits and free college-search events. Members live in Fort Worth-Dallas and represent nonprofit colleges, inside and outside Texas, but not within North Texas. 

The network’s institutional membership nearly doubled over a decade to about 100 institutions, with more than 130 active recruiters. 

Migration from other states and countries has helped sustain Texas’ population of young people, said Nathan Grawe, a Carleton College economist who studies how demographic change affects college demand. 

“In addition to Texas’s strong projections of high school graduates, it has a very strong economy that is attractive to schools looking for parents who want to send their kids to college,” Grawe said in an email to the Fort Worth Report. 

Arkansas enrolled 9,438 Texas residents this fall — about 1 in 4 of its total enrollment across student levels. McCray described Texas recruits as academically prepared, adding that the average GPA of Texas applicants at Arkansas is 3.75. 

“Texas is always on our mind,” she said. 

Local universities make their case

The competition has not stopped local universities from growing this fall. 

The University of Texas at Arlington enrolled a record 5,332 first-time college students, up 4% from the previous year, according to preliminary fall 2026 figures. Texas Wesleyan welcomed its largest freshman class, with more than 500 students. TCU also reported a record first-year class and plans for 3% annual enrollment growth. 

Luisa Havens Gerardo, UTA’s vice president for enrollment management, knows the appeals of recruiting Texans. Nine years ago, she helped a university in another state launch a Texas recruiting effort. 

Out-of-state schools often pursue academically prepared students who can afford to move, Havens Gerardo said. Other students have reasons to stay: family, work and support networks. 

“The best that we can do is actually understand our mission, who our students are, and who we are best positioned to serve,” she said. 

Cameron Gomez, a first-year architectural engineering student at UTA, stayed close to home. Her high school college advisers in Dallas encouraged her to consider out-of-state schools and said financial aid could make them affordable, but UTA satisfied both her academic record and desired major.

“I just want to be, for now, close to my family,” she said. 

UTA is also making the admission process easier for students at local school districts, Havens Gerardo said. Through a direct-admission agreement with Fort Worth ISD, the university receives information about qualifying rising seniors, creates their applications and offers admission without an application fee. Students can accept and begin enrolling. 

Arlington ISD is expected to join next year, she said. 

UTA began changing its recruiting plans ahead of an expected decline in international enrollment, Havens Gerardo said. It plans enrollment at least 18 months ahead and recruits beyond Texas, including in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Texas Wesleyan is widening its recruiting work in Dallas County while maintaining local school partnerships, said Lauren Findley, vice president of enrollment management. About 70% of its first-year students come from Tarrant County. 

Texas Wesleyan hopes to build its enrollment to about 3,500 students in the next five years, Findley said, from a fall 2025 base of roughly 2,750.

“We have to be cognizant of regional competitiveness, national competitiveness,” she said. 

“Texas is always on our mind.”

Suzanne McCray
vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions at University of Arkansas

Every first-year student receives some scholarship assistance, Findley said, and the Texas Wesleyan Promise program covers remaining tuition for qualifying first-time Texas students eligible for the maximum federal Pell Grant amount. 

“We serve a large majority of first-generation students, and it’s part of our mission, so it’s something that we really value and want to make sure we extend,” Findley said.

At TCU, 16 of 24 recruiting staffers work in Texas, though the university recruits nationally and internationally, said Mandy Castro, assistant vice provost and dean of admission. About 40% of its students come from Texas, Castro said. 

“We’re looking overall at the pool of applicants, and we’re choosing the most qualified for TCU,” she said. 

Some students never considered TCU because its advertised price seemed beyond reach, Castro said. TCU had helped some qualifying Texas students with tuition and living expenses for years, but starting this academic year, the TCU for Texans program made that assistance more visible. 

The program covers full tuition, plus food and housing assistance, for first-year Texas students who are Pell Grant eligible, have family adjusted gross income of up to $100,000 and meet other requirements.

Those offers require a balance, Kelchen said. Scholarships can keep regional universities in students’ searches but leave less revenue for the colleges to pay their bills. Enrolling more students can help, provided the money remaining after scholarships covers their costs.

“Because at the end of the day, what a university is trying to do is bring in enough tuition revenue after scholarships to balance their budget,” Kelchen said.

Clara Godoy, a Fort Worth junior studying art history at UTA, found an academic reason to stay within the area: the nearby museums. A former teacher who attended UTA recommended the university, and Godoy visited UTA and UT El Paso before choosing Arlington. 

“The community is really good here as well,” she said.

Hurley, the Tarleton State president, said business and education leaders should consider what their communities lose when students build their education and connections elsewhere. He urged mentoring and community partnerships to keep students in Fort Worth and Tarrant County. 

Finding a place to belong

For the Alveys, Arkansas’ appeal gradually went beyond scholarships. 

When the family began college visits, all three sons went along. They liked the Arkansas campus and the atmosphere of a Southeastern Conference school, even though the family had no previous Arkansas ties. 

During Nathan’s senior year of high school, he and his mother took an early Saturday walk through Fayetteville’s hills on a family weekend. They were staying in a house converted from an old church. She recalled her son’s words.

“Mom, I could really picture myself here,” Nathan told her.

Arkansas was a home away from home, Alvey said.

That sense of belonging is part of McCray’s pitch, too.

“Texans feel very comfortable on our campus,” McCray said. “There’s something about our campus that resonates well with them.”

McCray also pointed to post-graduate opportunities on top of the homey feeling. Northwest Arkansas is home to Walmart, Tyson and J.B. Hunt, and other companies have a presence.

“The number of internships available is just nearly limitless for these students,” McCray said.

The Alvey sons’ paths led in different directions after Arkansas. Two returned to North Texas. One works in civil engineering in McKinney, and the other works for a different department of the same company in Richardson. Nathan remained in northwest Arkansas to pursue a master’s degree in theology at a seminary. 

Alvey can list friends’ and colleagues’ children who have gone there, too — some following her family’s recommendation.

McCray understands the importance of that recommendation. 

“Our best recruiters are the students who come here and graduate from here and go back home and talk about what their experience was,” she said. “They are, in fact, our best recruiters.” 

Dang Le is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected]. 

The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Fort Worth. 

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