Operated by VNIS Vietnam Co., Ltd, an Authorized Recruiter for Texas State University.
STUDYING IN TEXAS
Written by the authorised Vietnam recruitment office for Texas State University. Every figure is sourced and dated, and there is a section on who Texas does not suit.
$43,720
all-in cost for one undergraduate year, 2026–27
up to $48,000
scholarship awarded automatically over four years
2027
tuition held flat — no rise since 2021
3 years
post-study work for STEM graduates
Before the university, the place. You will live here for four years, and four numbers give you the scale of it faster than any paragraph.
$2.9 trillion
GDP in 2025 — as a country, Texas would rank eighth in the world
57
Fortune 500 headquarters — more than any other state
0%
state income tax — banned outright in the state constitution
31.7 million
residents; Texas added 391,243 in 2025, more than any other state
Why those four numbers reach you. An economy that size means the internships and the employers are inside the state, not a flight away. Fifty-seven Fortune 500 headquarters means career fairs, internship programs and alumni networks sit within a few hours’ drive. No state income tax means that if you work on OPT after graduating, the same gross salary leaves you with more than it would in California or New York. And the fastest population growth in the country is why the job market here is still widening rather than tightening.
| Metro area | What $100 buys there |
|---|---|
| Austin – Round Rock – San Marcos (the main campus metro) | $102.44 |
| Houston | $99.78 |
| Dallas – Fort Worth | $96.81 |
| New York City | $88.91 |
| Los Angeles | $86.61 |
These are regional price parities from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2023 data. Read it like this: $100 spent in the Austin metro — where the main campus sits — has the purchasing power of $102.44 measured against national prices, while in Los Angeles it drops to $86.61. That is a gap of roughly 18%, and most of it is rent. One caveat worth stating: this measures living costs and says nothing about tuition, which each university sets for itself.
The real question is not whether Texas is good but what the same money buys you there. Three differences you can measure:
The table above shows where most of that gap sits: rent. San Marcos is a university town rather than a major city, so rents fall below even the wider Austin metro. On identical tuition, the four-year total diverges substantially.
Austin for technology, Houston for healthcare, Dallas for finance. With three years of post-study work for STEM graduates, studying where the jobs already are matters more than studying somewhere famous.
The large Texas public universities publish their academic and test thresholds. You can tell in advance whether you have a chance, rather than guessing at a holistic review.
The main campus sits in San Marcos, between Austin and San Antonio. These are the four nearest employment centres, with real driving distances from the university.
50 km from campus · a 30-minute drive
The state’s technology centre. Dell is headquartered in Round Rock — where Texas State also runs its second campus — alongside Tesla, Apple and a semiconductor cluster expanding in Taylor. If you are studying computer science, engineering, data or information systems, this is the closest place to intern.
80 km from campus · a 45-minute drive
Healthcare, military medicine, cybersecurity and tourism. The state’s second-largest city, with a substantial Vietnamese community and plenty of Asian groceries — a small thing that turns out to matter in a first year away from home.
265 km from campus · about 2 hours 40 minutes
The Texas Medical Center here is the largest medical complex in the world: over 120,000 employees and roughly 10 million patient encounters a year. Add the energy industry and NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Greater Houston is also home to the third-largest Vietnamese community of any US metro.
364 km from campus · about 3 hours 25 minutes
Finance, telecommunications and aviation. NYSE Texas opened in Dallas in 2025. DFW is one of the busiest international gateways in the country — and a familiar connection on the way home to Vietnam.
This is not a footnote. For most families the question "will my child be isolated" weighs more than any ranking table.
The state is vast, but your daily life happens in a small university town between two big cities, with a river running through the middle of campus.
The university’s campuses →What there is to do around San Marcos →
| Item | Undergraduate | Graduate |
|---|---|---|
| All-in cost, 9 months living on campus | $43,720 | $35,360 |
| Of which: residence hall, per semester | $3,660 – $6,190 | — |
| International application fee | $90 | $90 with international credentials |
| Housing contract deposit | $300 | — |
The all-in figure covers tuition, fees, housing, food, books, personal costs and travel. Do not confuse it with the amount you must evidence to obtain an I-20: the university’s I-20 table is based on 12 credit hours and excludes books and travel, so it is lower — $40,600 for undergraduates and $32,000 for master’s students in 2026–27. A scholarship comes off the tuition portion.
The part most applicants miss: at Texas State, international students are considered for the same academic scholarships as domestic students, based on SAT/ACT and class rank, with no separate scholarship application. The admission file is the scholarship application.
| Criteria | Value |
|---|---|
| SAT 1420+ or ACT 32+, top 25% of class | $48,000 over four years |
| SAT 1260–1410 or ACT 27–31, top 25% of class | $32,000 over four years |
| Top 6–15% of class, no test score needed | $28,000 over four years |
| Top 16–25% of class, no test score needed | $24,000 over four years |
You do not have to wait a year. Texas State runs an intensive English program on campus (TSIE) and an online version you can start from home (OTSIE), both progressing directly into a degree.
| Question | The reality |
|---|---|
| Flying from Vietnam | There are no nonstop flights to Texas. Expect one connection through Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong or San Francisco, and a total journey of roughly 20–24 hours. |
| Nearest airport | Austin–Bergstrom (AUS), about an hour from San Marcos by road. San Antonio (SAT) is a similar distance. |
| Getting around | Campus and downtown San Marcos are walkable and the university shuttle is free. Beyond the town you need a car or someone to share one with — a cost families routinely leave out of the budget. |
| Weather | Long summers with many days above 35°C; short, mild winters. Every building, bus and shop is air-conditioned. |
| Time zone | Texas runs 12 hours behind Vietnam in summer and 13 in winter. Calls home need planning, and this is what makes the first week harder than people expect. |
Weather by season and what to pack →Getting around San Marcos →
The study-abroad market contains institutions that do not exist. Do not take our word for it — look it up. Texas State University holds IPEDS ID 228459 in the US Department of Education database, is accredited by SACSCOC, and its official domain is txst.edu.
Filter by level, college and STEM designation.
Academic and English thresholds, fees and documents.
GPA, English and what changes at master’s level.
From offer letter to interview.
Rates by hall, the first-year rule, application dates.
San Marcos, Round Rock and what works on a visa.
For 2026–27 the all-in figure is about $43,720 for an undergraduate and $35,360 for a graduate student, covering tuition, housing, food, books and personal costs. Scholarships come straight off that.
Yes. Two tiers are awarded on class rank alone: the top 6–15% receive $28,000 and the top 16–25% receive $24,000 over four years. The highest tiers do require SAT or ACT.
Yes — you enter through the TSIE intensive English program on campus or OTSIE online, then progress straight into your degree rather than waiting a year.
STEM-designated degrees carry up to 36 months of OPT, which means three H-1B lottery seasons. Non-STEM degrees carry 12 months. This is worth weighing when you choose a field.
Yes, for anyone who finished secondary school within twelve months of enrolling — the clock runs from leaving school, so it also catches transfer students. Graduate students are not covered.
No. Federal grants and loans are for US citizens and permanent residents. International students access support through the university’s own scholarships.
There are no nonstop flights. Expect one connection through Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong or San Francisco and a total journey of roughly 20–24 hours. The nearest airport is Austin (AUS), about an hour from San Marcos.
Yes. Around 310,000 people of Vietnamese origin live in Texas, the second-largest such population of any state after California, with roughly 140,000 in greater Houston alone. Closer to campus, Austin and San Antonio both have Vietnamese grocers, temples and churches within a 30–45 minute drive.
Not for campus and downtown San Marcos — walking and the free university shuttle cover those. But large supermarkets, internships and weekend trips effectively require a car or someone to share one with. It is the cost families most often leave out of the budget.
Mostly living costs and tax. On the US Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities for 2023, $100 in the Austin metro has the purchasing power of $102.44 against national prices, against $86.61 in Los Angeles — a gap of roughly 18%, most of it rent. Texas also levies no state income tax, which matters once you are working on OPT.
The Vietnam office checks your transcripts and English score against each program’s real requirements and replies within 1–2 business days. Free of charge.
