Texas A&M University-College Station

Public · Moderately Selective · TX

Photo: Donnie Ray Jones (CC BY 2.0)

School data & stats

TypePublic

LocationTX · South

SettingUrban

Undergrads59,615

Student:faculty20:1

Outcomes

4-yr grad rate61.2%

6-yr grad rate83.9%

Drop-out rate5.7%

Study abroad—

Cost

In-state tuition$13k

Out-of-state tuition$40k

Application fee—

Community

Racial diversity47.6%

Gender diversity47.4%

International1.1%

Identity—

Overview

Texas A&M is the state's land-grant flagship, set in College Station and known for some of the deepest school traditions and most loyal alumni culture in American higher education. It combines a powerhouse research mission, one of the largest in the country, with a distinct sense of shared identity among its students, known as Aggies, built around service, tradition, and the Aggie Code of Honor.

Academics

Engineering and agriculture are the university's signature strengths, backed by extensive research funding and land-grant extension programs that reach communities across Texas. Business, veterinary medicine, and the sciences are also well regarded, and Texas A&M's sheer scale gives undergraduates access to research opportunities and specialized majors that smaller universities can't match. The Corps of Cadets provides a leadership-focused track for students who choose it, alongside the much larger civilian student body, and both paths lead into the same broader Aggie network after graduation.

Campus & student life

Campus life revolves heavily around tradition: Midnight Yell before football games, the 12th Man's standing presence throughout games, Silver Taps for deceased students, and a calendar full of Aggie-specific rituals that bind students and alumni together across generations. The College Station setting is a self-contained college town built almost entirely around the university, and the sheer density of tradition means new students are quickly initiated into customs, from how to yell to how to address upperclassmen, that would be unfamiliar anywhere else.

Getting in

Admission emphasizes academic preparation and, for many majors, a straightforward record-based review rather than heavy essay weighting, with particular competitiveness in engineering and other high-demand fields. Texas's top-percent automatic admission rules shape a large share of the applicant pool, and out-of-state and international applicants face a notably more competitive process than in-state Texans.

After graduation

The Aggie alumni network is famously loyal and far-reaching, spanning energy, engineering, agriculture, and business sectors across Texas and beyond, and it is frequently cited as one of the most active and supportive alumni networks in the country. Aggies are known to seek each other out professionally well after graduation, and the network's strength in Texas's energy and engineering sectors in particular gives graduates an unusually direct route into those industries.

Worth knowing

Texas A&M's traditions are not a background feature but a central part of the student experience, and students who thrive there typically embrace the school's culture of shared ritual, service, and loyalty rather than treating it as optional campus color. The Corps of Cadets remains active and visible even though it's now a minority of the student body, and the Aggie Honor Code, 'an Aggie does not lie, cheat, or steal, or tolerate those who do,' is taken seriously as a lived expectation, not just a slogan.

tamu.edu ↗

Admissions

Acceptance rate57.4%

Enrolled mid-50%SAT 1150–1400 · ACT 25–31

Test policyoptional

Rec letters0

Deadlines (2026–27 cycle)

Regular decisionDec 1

Verified from the school’s admissions page ↗

Applying (2026-27 cycle)

Apply through ApplyTexas.

Verified from the school’s admissions pages ↗