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Community-college Pell-grant share in Texas

Community colleges in Texas ranked by Pell-grant share — the percentage of undergraduates who received a federal Pell Grant in the most recent reporting year. Pell share is a useful proxy for the share of the student body from lower-income households and for the institution's experience serving students who depend heavily on need-based federal aid.

  1. Southwest University at El PasoEl Paso, TX82%
  2. Southwestern Christian CollegeTerrell, TX66%
  3. Galen Health Institutes-HoustonHouston, TX61%
  4. Interactive College of TechnologyHouston, TX60%
  5. Universal Technical Institute of Texas Inc.Houston, TX60%
  6. Universal Technical Institute-West TexasAustin, TX59%
  7. Culinary Institute IncHouston, TX56%
  8. Vet Tech Institute of HoustonHouston, TX56%
  9. Universal Technical Institute-Dallas Fort WorthIrving, TX56%
  10. Galen College of Nursing-San AntonioSan Antonio, TX55%
  11. Baptist Health System School of Health ProfessionsSan Antonio, TX53%
  12. MediaTech Institute-DallasDallas, TX52%
  13. Galen Health Institutes-Austin CampusRound Rock, TX51%
  14. Western Technical CollegeEl Paso, TX49%
  15. Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts-AustinAustin, TX46%
  16. Interactive College of TechnologyHouston, TX45%
  17. Amarillo CollegeAmarillo, TX44%
  18. Vernon CollegeVernon, TX42%
  19. Commonwealth Institute of Funeral ServiceHouston, TX41%
  20. Northeast Texas Community CollegeMount Pleasant, TX40%
  21. South Texas CollegeMcAllen, TX39%
  22. Laredo CollegeLaredo, TX39%
  23. South Plains CollegeLevelland, TX38%
  24. McLennan Community CollegeWaco, TX38%
  25. Central Texas CollegeKilleen, TX37%
  26. El Paso Community CollegeEl Paso, TX37%
  27. Victoria CollegeVictoria, TX37%
  28. KD Conservatory College of Film and Dramatic ArtsDallas, TX36%
  29. Houston Community CollegeHouston, TX36%
  30. Tyler Junior CollegeTyler, TX36%
  31. Temple CollegeTemple, TX35%
  32. San Antonio CollegeSan Antonio, TX34%
  33. Del Mar CollegeCorpus Christi, TX33%
  34. Southwest Texas CollegeUvalde, TX33%
  35. San Jacinto Community CollegePasadena, TX32%
  36. Kilgore CollegeKilgore, TX32%
  37. Hill CollegeHillsboro, TX31%
  38. Navarro CollegeCorsicana, TX30%
  39. Texas Southmost CollegeBrownsville, TX28%
  40. Tarrant County College DistrictFort Worth, TX27%
  41. Wharton County Junior CollegeWharton, TX27%
  42. College of the MainlandTexas City, TX27%
  43. Dallas Institute of Funeral ServiceDallas, TX27%
  44. Palo Alto CollegeSan Antonio, TX27%
  45. Lamar Institute of TechnologyBeaumont, TX26%
  46. Coastal Bend CollegeBeeville, TX26%
  47. Cisco CollegeCisco, TX26%
  48. Weatherford CollegeWeatherford, TX26%
  49. Alvin Community CollegeAlvin, TX25%
  50. Austin Community College DistrictAustin, TX24%

How to interpret Pell share

The federal Pell Grant is the largest need-based grant program in U.S. higher education. Eligibility is determined by the FAFSA and is based primarily on family income and assets relative to the cost of attendance. A community college with a high Pell-grant share is, by construction, an institution whose student body skews toward lower-income households. That is not a quality signal in either direction on its own — many of the strongest community-college transfer pipelines in Texas run through institutions with high Pell shares — but it does indicate where institutional services such as emergency aid, child-care subsidies, food pantries, and need-based scholarships are most likely to be developed and well-resourced.

If you are eligible for the Pell Grant, the practical implication is that several of the community colleges on this list will be tuition-free for you after the grant is applied, with state aid and institutional aid often covering most of the remaining cost of attendance. File the FAFSA as early as possible in the academic year — it determines eligibility for all major federal need-based programs, and many state aid programs in Texas use the FAFSA as their qualifying application as well.