Public · Community college

South Texas College

McAllen, Texas · Midsize city

#3 best value in Texas
15%
Transfer rate
$1,751
Avg net price
27%
Grad / completion
$36,788
Median earnings

South Texas College is a public associate-granting institution in McAllen, Texas (midsize city setting), enrolling 15,856 undergraduates. It is a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI). Admission is open to all applicants.

PublicLarge · 15,856 undergradsMidsize city

About McAllen, Texas

McAllen is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. In 1904, the Hidalgo and San Miguel Extension (now the Sam Fordyce Branch) of the St. Louis, Brownsville and Mexico Railway reached the Santa Anita Ranch. John McAllen and his son James had donated land to the railroad to guarantee it would cross this area. The Rio Grande Valley began its rapid development with the introduction of irrigation in 1898 and the construction of the railroad in 1904. These major additions turned a once relatively desolate area into a major agricultural center. (Wikipedia)

Setting
Midsize city
Highest degree offered
Bachelor's
Nearest big city
2 miles to McAllen, TX
To the ocean
52 miles
Nearest airport
3 miles to McAllen Miller (MFE)

How South Texas College compares

Graduation rate27%

Higher than 10% · #224 of 253 in Texas

First-year retention58%

Higher than 21%

Earnings, 10 years after entry$36,788

Higher than 56% · #79 of 206 in Texas

Average net price$1,751

Cheaper than 98% · #3 cheapest of 252 in Texas

Student–faculty ratio22 : 1

Lower than 21%

Undergraduate enrollment15,856

Larger than 98%

Percentiles compare South Texas College with the nation's 3,519 two-year and certificate schools, among schools reporting each statistic. State ranks count two-year and certificate schools in Texas.

Student body

Undergraduates by gender

15,856undergrads
  • Women8,64054%
  • Men7,21646%

Undergraduates by race / ethnicity

  • White2.2%
  • Black0.6%
  • Hispanic95%
  • Asian0.5%
  • Other or multiracial1.7%

Graduate gender splits aren't published in this data, so the gender chart covers undergraduates only.

By the numbers

Undergraduate enrollment
15,856
Student–faculty ratio
22 : 1
Pell Grant recipients
39%
First-generation students
61%
Students over 25
17%
Median family income
$17,577
Avg faculty salary (academic year)
$68,985
Endowment
$339,639

Colleges don't publish true class-size data; student–faculty ratio (IPEDS) is the closest public measure of it.

Cost

In-state tuition
$4,920
Out-of-state tuition
$7,620
Room & board
Books & supplies
$1,600
Total cost of attendance
$9,561
Average net price
$1,751

Net price is the total cost minus grants and scholarships — what students actually pay. It varies sharply by family income; see the breakdown below.

Outcomes

Graduated (within 6 years)
27%
Graduated on time (4 years)
15%
First-year retention
58%
Transferred to another college
15%
Median earnings, 6 years after entry
$28,239
Median earnings, 10 years after entry
$36,788
Median debt at graduation
Students with federal loans
0%

About 12% of students who finish here need more than four years — each extra year adds roughly another year of tuition and living costs.

Graduating on time

By student background (4 years)

All students
15%
First-generation
26%

When these bars run close together, students from every background tend to finish at similar rates — a sign the school supports the ~30% who are first-gen or low-income.

Campus life & athletics

On-campus housing
No
Application fee
Free

Housing and fees: IPEDS 2023–24. Athletics rosters: Equity in Athletics data, 2024–25. Dorm capacity can include graduate and family housing, so the share of undergrads can top 100%.

Campus safety

Safety grade
A
Reported offenses per 1,000 students
0.1 / year
Violent offenses (2022–2024)
5
Property offenses (2022–2024)
0

On-campus criminal offenses reported under the Clery Act, 2022–2024, across 6 campuses (27,431 students). Counts reflect reports, not convictions — schools with strong reporting cultures often show more, so a higher count doesn't simply mean a more dangerous campus.

Reported offenses in an average year

The same 2022–2024 Clery Act reports, divided down to one year.

1.7reported offenses a year
1.7 violent a year0 property a year

By offense type, per year

Fondling
1.0
Rape
0.3
Statutory rape
0.3

Averages, not a forecast — a single year can run well above or below this. Bars are scaled against this campus's most-reported offense, so they compare types here rather than against other schools.

What you'll actually pay, by family income

Average net price (total cost minus grants and scholarships) paid by aided students in each family-income band.

< $30k
$1,395
$30–48k
$1,651
$48–75k
$3,841
$75–110k
$5,274
$110k+

College Scorecard / IPEDS, most recent year. Family income is total household income; net price covers tuition, fees, room, board and supplies after grant aid, for students receiving federal aid.

Four-year (or more) true cost

Net price for your family's income, projected across the time it actually takes students here to graduate.

Est. total to a degree
$17,999

$3,841/year × about 4.7 years — most students here don't finish in exactly four, and each extra term adds cost. A planning estimate from net-price and graduation-timing data, not a bill.

Does the school pay you to attend?

Grant aid from the school's own funds — the discount off sticker, on top of any federal or state help.

1%
of first-years get a grant from the school
$1,102
average award, among those who get one

Modest institutional aid: 1% of freshmen get a grant from the school, averaging $1,102. Most of what lowers the price here is federal or state money, not the school's own funds.

Blends need-based and merit aid — IPEDS doesn't split the two, so a high number can mean generous merit scholarships, deep need-based aid, or both. Figures cover 2,116 full-time first-year undergraduates, 2022–23. Source: IPEDS Student Financial Aid.

Is it worth it?

A rough return-on-investment read from what graduates earn versus what they borrow.

Median earnings (10 years)
$36,788
Typical debt at graduation
Debt vs. one year's pay
Out-earn a HS grad
40%
Weigh it value

The payoff is less clear-cut here — weigh the debt against the earnings and your intended field before borrowing heavily.

Earnings are the College Scorecard median for former students (working, not enrolled) 10 years after entry — not a guarantee, and they vary a lot by major. Debt is the median federal loan balance at graduation.

The pay gap here

Median earnings 10 years after entry, split by gender.

Women
$31,632
Men
$43,418

Men out-earn women by $11,786 (37%) a decade out.

Federal figures for former students working and not enrolled, 10 years after they first entered. A gap this wide usually reflects which majors men and women here tend to choose — not different pay for the same job.

Campus climate

Summer high
99°F
Winter low
49°F
Annual rain
18.7″
Annual snow
0.1″

Average temperature

HighLow
40°80°110°JFMAMJJASOND

Average precipitation (inches)

0.01.93.8JFMAMJJASOND

NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals, Mcallen, TX US station (1.8 mi from campus).

Median earnings of this school's own graduates 1 and 5 years after finishing each program, and median federal-loan debt at completion (College Scorecard). Small programs are privacy-suppressed (—). Click a major to compare colleges nationally.

Colleges similar to South Texas College

Schools with a comparable profile — size, selectivity, cost, and graduate outcomes. Compare South Texas College side by side →

Colleges near South Texas College

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard (most recent cohorts), IPEDS institutional characteristics, Equity in Athletics (EADA) data, Clery Act Campus Safety and Security data, and NOAA US Climate Normals. Distances are straight-line from campus coordinates. Percentiles compare schools of the same level (four-year vs. two-year) that report each statistic.