By Josh Siatkowski | Staff Writer

However great your last semester at Baylor was, make sure to increase your expectations by a solid 10% for the 2025-2026 year, because that’s how much more your degree has grown in value according to the $5,000 tuition increase.

In fact, the price hike is enough to give fans a chance to celebrate a couple of wins, even before our rivalry-packed football season begins: Baylor now has a higher tuition than both TCU and SMU.

Maybe that’s not such a big win.

After the increase was announced in February, tuition will be set at an eye-catching $63,620 for the 2025-2026 year. The jump moves Baylor from being consistently better priced than TCU and SMU (although still quite expensive) to the highest-priced school of the three, and second only to Rice in Texas, on an annual tuition basis. This is approximately $40 million — the estimated $2,255 in added annual expense per student net of scholarship, multiplied by Baylor’s 16,000 students — in annual incremental tuition revenue.

Just three years ago, Baylor was 4% cheaper than TCU and 6% cheaper than SMU. While all three colleges are among the most expensive in America, the slight discount at Baylor always suggested a little more modesty compared to the growing wealth of its northern counterparts. Now that gap is gone, and in its place is an assertion that Baylor has significantly improved — and will continue to do so. Now, the responsibility is on the university to prove it.

In Baylor’s defense, they’re certainly making their case. First of all, Baylor can easily go toe-to-toe with TCU and SMU on an academic level. In fact, some metrics suggest it wins. Baylor just beat out TCU to be ranked the top academic school in the Big 12. Compared to other schools, at least, it does not seem Baylor is overcharging.

Baylor is also renowned for strong scholarship programs, with more than 90% of students receiving financial aid and 84% receiving merit-based scholarships. And while thousands of students will likely bear the full $5,000 charge, Baylor estimates the average student will only pay $2,255 more per year. Maybe we can hold Baylor to a 5% improvement if that’s the case …

There’s also the fact that Baylor is noticeably better priced on a full cost of attendance basis. Baylor’s non-tuition expenses amount to about $23,000 per year, while TCU and SMU sit at about $25,000 and $32,000, respectively. This disparity can be attributed to two things: Waco is cheaper than Dallas, and Baylor doesn’t hide $7,000 in fees in its own separate line item like SMU does.

But even with its academic strength and established financial aid, a 10% tuition increase for an already pricey school looks bad on paper. Having a higher tuition than two of the wealthiest schools in America looks worse.

As tough as it is to swallow an unexpected $5,000 increase in annual bills, the price hike may not be entirely unwarranted when you take a closer look. But if Baylor expects 10% more money from its families, students are equally warranted to expect a 10% better Baylor experience.

Baylor is special largely due to the families and students it attracts, and these are not families that part with $5,000 as if it were a drop in the bucket. So when the board debates future tuition hikes, they should be wary not to price out the humble, hardworking people who see the value in a Baylor education. It’s hard to say the price at which this happens, but we’re certainly closer to it now than we were last fall.