How does financial aid for middle-income families compare at UT Austin and Brown?

Brown is likely to provide the more comprehensive need-based package, but UT Austin can produce the lower out-of-pocket price for a Texas resident. Brown meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted students and replaces need-based loans with scholarship aid. UT Austin does not make the same across-the-board commitment to meet every student’s calculated need.

Brown calculates aid individually using the FAFSA and CSS Profile, so a middle-income family may be expected to contribute toward some combination of living costs and tuition, depending heavily on income, savings, home equity, and family circumstances. Families still need to plan for housing, meals, books, transportation, and other costs unless grants cover them. Because UT’s in-state tuition is substantially lower than Brown’s total cost, a Texas family can sometimes pay less at UT even when Brown offers a larger scholarship.

For non-Texas residents, UT’s higher nonresident tuition makes the comparison less favorable, since its institutional need-based aid is typically less expansive than Brown’s. At either school, the net price calculator is the most useful estimate because “middle income” can produce very different results based on assets and household size.