South Texas College Tuition Increase

[KagomeH]

I received word after enrolling for Fall 2024 that South Texas College will be charging regular tuition for each class for their CBE program. I am still heavily debating trying TAMUC after this news or somewhere else.

Here are the tuition rates currently as of this month.

Edit: If I completed 18 hours would be roughly $2700.

[ss20ts]

Ouch! Regular tuition for CBE? Feels like a ripoff.

[KagomeH]

I have to agree. Unless there is some other statement, I was told via email that they would charge per credit for each added class. The advisor I spoke to was not very happy.

[bjcheung77]

Ouch, was there a reason for this? It's strange they're moving into a per credit for a competency based degree option when they already set a per session or per term cost to this. They could have done the TAMUC route and just bumped up their pricing if there are many students interested and they wanted to...

[ltw900rr]

I would definitely look into TAMUC if you are in Texas.

I don't know how South Texas College expects a CBE program to work if you are paying full price per credit hour. I am sure that is very frustrating to your advisor.

[ReyMysterioso]

What major/degree were you hoping to achieve at South? If there is a major at TAMUC that will substitute, I would strongly recommend switching. If you're at South for Computer and Information Technologies, then TAMUC may not be the answer.

I feel like on the whole, even though TAMUC is not College Station, the TAMU system brand is the stronger brand and more recognizable outside of Texas. In my experience, speaking with people about TAMUC and watching a young person I know who is currently enrolled TAMU Corpus Cristi (b&m) speak with people about how school is going.... casuals don't even seem to understand our regional campuses are separate and independent entities that have nothing much to do with the TAMU flagship.

People here just make a lazy mental association leap that it's all just Texas A&M. And if you try to explain it, it just sounds to them like "well ackshually true Champagne is named for the region of France...if it's not from the region of Champagne, it's just sparkling white wine..." and they just kinda tune out clarifications or maybe just don't care. I mean we're not trying to deceive anyone. We're pretty clear about what schools we were/are in, but people seem to want to rub the shine of main brand on us anyway. Who am I to argue?

But besides brand value, I mostly liked my TAMUC experience and felt like I really learned some useful skills. Half the instructors were really positive and felt like they were cheerleaders rooting for your success, emailing you helpful reminders about requirements and deadlines. The other half were just kinda there but would respond if you had questions and offered positive, helpful feedback on written assignments.

Administration tbh could be a little more clunky. They'd miss things or you might have to sorta poke them a little bit to get an answer or problem solved - but they would eventually solve issues and my interactions felt positive... I felt like administration is there for the right reasons and wants to do a good job of serving students and the only reason it takes polite badgering or they miss things is only because they're swamped at work. I felt cared about.

I don't know what your experience with South is. I looked into their program a while back and just ended up opting for TAMUC at the time. I don't remember why. Sorry for the long post. Just trying to provide helpful info. Good luck!

[Tedium]

Some shareholder(s) realized how much people weren’t spending with CBE and decided to put a stop to it. That sucks and misses the whole point.

[txc1500]

What major/degree were you hoping to achieve at South? If there is a major at TAMUC that will substitute, I would strongly recommend switching. If you're at South for Computer and Information Technologies, then TAMUC may not be the answer.

I feel like on the whole, even though TAMUC is not College Station, the TAMU system brand is the stronger brand and more recognizable outside of Texas. In my experience, speaking with people about TAMUC and watching a young person I know who is currently enrolled TAMU Corpus Cristi (b&m) speak with people about how school is going.... casuals don't even seem to understand our regional campuses are separate and independent entities that have nothing much to do with the TAMU flagship.

People here just make a lazy mental association leap that it's all just Texas A&M. And if you try to explain it, it just sounds to them like "well ackshually true Champagne is named for the region of France...if it's not from the region of Champagne, it's just sparkling white wine..." and they just kinda tune out clarifications or maybe just don't care. I mean we're not trying to deceive anyone. We're pretty clear about what schools we were/are in, but people seem to want to rub the shine of main brand on us anyway. Who am I to argue?

But besides brand value, I mostly liked my TAMUC experience and felt like I really learned some useful skills. Half the instructors were really positive and felt like they were cheerleaders rooting for your success, emailing you helpful reminders about requirements and deadlines. The other half were just kinda there but would respond if you had questions and offered positive, helpful feedback on written assignments.

Administration tbh could be a little more clunky. They'd miss things or you might have to sorta poke them a little bit to get an answer or problem solved - but they would eventually solve issues and my interactions felt positive... I felt like administration is there for the right reasons and wants to do a good job of serving students and the only reason it takes polite badgering or they miss things is only because they're swamped at work. I felt cared about.

I don't know what your experience with South is. I looked into their program a while back and just ended up opting for TAMUC at the time. I don't remember why. Sorry for the long post. Just trying to provide helpful info. Good luck!

I 100% agree with this. Especially towards the end, I remember distinctly reflecting that it was probably the first time I've had instructors who seemed genuinely supportive of their students and wanted them to succeed in their coursework. I've had the opportunity to visit campus a few times, and the College of Innovation & Design does a lot with a relatively small staff and is even friendlier in person!

[KagomeH]

Ouch, was there a reason for this? It's strange they're moving into a per credit for a competency based degree option when they already set a per session or per term cost to this.  They could have done the TAMUC route and just bumped up their pricing if there are many students interested and they wanted to...

All I was told was that, "they will be charging regular tuition for each added class even for CBE." My advisor's tone was not happy. I did not push for more information as it seemed like they were already having a rough day.

What major/degree were you hoping to achieve at South? If there is a major at TAMUC that will substitute, I would strongly recommend switching. If you're at South for Computer and Information Technologies, then TAMUC may not be the answer.

I feel like on the whole, even though TAMUC is not College Station, the TAMU system brand is the stronger brand and more recognizable outside of Texas. In my experience, speaking with people about TAMUC and watching a young person I know who is currently enrolled TAMU Corpus Cristi (b&m) speak with people about how school is going.... casuals don't even seem to understand our regional campuses are separate and independent entities that have nothing much to do with the TAMU flagship.

People here just make a lazy mental association leap that it's all just Texas A&M. And if you try to explain it, it just sounds to them like "well ackshually true Champagne is named for the region of France...if it's not from the region of Champagne, it's just sparkling white wine..." and they just kinda tune out clarifications or maybe just don't care. I mean we're not trying to deceive anyone. We're pretty clear about what schools we were/are in, but people seem to want to rub the shine of main brand on us anyway. Who am I to argue?

But besides brand value, I mostly liked my TAMUC experience and felt like I really learned some useful skills. Half the instructors were really positive and felt like they were cheerleaders rooting for your success, emailing you helpful reminders about requirements and deadlines. The other half were just kinda there but would respond if you had questions and offered positive, helpful feedback on written assignments.

Administration tbh could be a little more clunky. They'd miss things or you might have to sorta poke them a little bit to get an answer or problem solved - but they would eventually solve issues and my interactions felt positive... I felt like administration is there for the right reasons and wants to do a good job of serving students and the only reason it takes polite badgering or they miss things is only because they're swamped at work. I felt cared about.

I don't know what your experience with South is. I looked into their program a while back and just ended up opting for TAMUC at the time. I don't remember why. Sorry for the long post. Just trying to provide helpful info. Good luck!

I do live in Texas. I'm more of a Texas Tech person myself, even if Texas A&M has multiple campuses. I cannot join the enemy!   (Joking, I honestly don't care which school!)

I was going to do the BAS Medical Management that had more courses based on actual health management that I felt would be my "weaker" areas hat I would want to learn (particularly the math). I could also change to the regular seven week courses if I found I did not like the CBE program. I could start a CBE program and find myself just wanting to the standard seven week courses (like we do in community college). The courses are more "broad" level Health Services Admin BAS at TAMUC. Otherwise, the degrees are similar.

South Texas College has basically some of the same degrees as TAMUC besides Computer and Information Technologies (and perhaps Operations Management). The cost was cheaper than TAMUC with the price increase (not by huge amount) for fall but it had me sold on saving $100 a month. 

TAMUC has several newer options but I did my heart set on courses in the Health and Medical Management degree (no fault of my own). I was actually very excited for those courses. The Health and Safety Degree at TAMUC or Organizational Leadership BAS seem to be catching my eye. I'll have to sit with an advisor at TAMUC and see what they say. I'm working on sending my transcripts as we speak. I just am confused on what degree at TAMUC to take (at the moment, I just need to sit down and really compare the degrees offered better). I compared the schools and felt the BAS Health and Medical Management classes required "spoke more" to me at the time.

I don't know with these CBE programs if you can even double major (or minor) at each school. Which, if I did, I would double major at TAMUC with the Heath Services Admin or Health Safety BAS with organizational leadership as the other major (or minor). My current employer offers a really decent tuition assistance program.

[ReyMysterioso]

As far as I know, you can't double-major and you can't minor. You just have the listed classes they provide in the major (pretty much in order) and are more or less stuck with that without being able to customize it. Your mileage may vary.

What's your goal with this degree? Is there a career move or master's program you're trying to get? Usually bjcheung77 tells people to start with the goal first and line up the program that best helps you achieve that. bjcheung77