Private Colleges in Texas: Full List of Schools

Texas is home to over 1 million college students. And it’s easy to see why so many undergrads choose the Lone Star State. With top-ranked colleges and universities and a booming economy, Texas can be a great place to earn a degree.

If you’re considering private colleges in Texas, you’ve got options. You could attend a research university with a small-town feel or a small liberal arts college in a major city.

Ready to find your perfect fit? We’ll look at popular Texas private colleges, the cost of living, and the highest-paying Texas careers.

Here are some of the most popular choices for private colleges in Texas. We selected these schools based on their number of applicants, academic reputation, and overall prestige.

We’ve created a complete list of all four-year nonprofit private colleges in Texas. You can use the table below to compare data on student population, average net cost, acceptance rate, and number of applicants.

All data comes from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). We did not include schools with fewer than 500 undergraduates.

Texas is the second-most populous state, with a nearly $2 trillion economy.

In spite of that, the state has a surprisingly affordable cost of living, according to 2023 data from Bankrate. Popular cities like Dallas and Austin report costs of living in line with the national average, whereas Houston and San Antonio are more affordable.

The state’s affordable cost of living can help offset the cost of attending Texas private colleges. In 2021, private colleges in Texas reported an average tuition rate of $37,450, according to NCES. That’s slightly higher than the national average private college tuition rate of $32,825.

Nearly 13 million Texans work in the state, which reports an average annual pay of $57,300, according to May 2022 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The highest-paying jobs in Texas include careers in healthcare, management, engineering, and tech.

Some of these career paths require a graduate degree. For example, many of the top-paying healthcare professionals hold a doctorate. Other careers hire candidates with a bachelor’s degree.

As a key player in the global oil and gas industry, Texas employs many petroleum engineers, a job that requires a bachelor’s degree. Tech careers, like database architects, also report high salaries for professionals with an undergraduate degree.

There are around 50 private colleges in Texas. Some of the best-known Texas private colleges include Rice, Baylor, and Southern Methodist University.

Private four-year colleges in Texas enroll over 100,000 students. These colleges offer a variety of majors and graduate programs. You can also find liberal arts, religious, and specially designated colleges like Hispanic-serving institutions and HBCUs in Texas.

Baylor reports the highest net price among Texas private colleges and universities. Undergrads can expect to spend around $46,000 a year to attend Baylor after financial aid.

While private colleges tend to cost more than public colleges, several private four-year colleges in Texas report affordable tuition rates. Wiley College, an HBCU, reports an average net price of around $11,000 per year, according to NCES.

The hardest private college to get into in Texas is Rice. The private research university reported an acceptance rate of 9% in fall 2022. That means fewer than 1 in 10 applicants received an acceptance letter.

Many other private colleges in Texas admit a higher percentage of students. For example, Southern Methodist University admits around half of all applicants.