North Texas has become a recruiting target for colleges outside the state, and the competition for the region's high school seniors is getting sharper, according to reporting published Sunday by the Fort Worth Report.
The draw is numbers. The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education projects 13% fewer high school graduates nationwide in 2041 than in 2025, but Texas is one of the few states expected to produce more, and it is projected to pass California as the largest source of high school graduates by 2033, the Report says.
Common App counted more than 140,000 Texas students filing first-year applications through its platform in the 2025-26 season, more than any other state.
How the out-of-state pitch works
The University of Arkansas enrolled 9,438 Texas residents this fall, about a quarter of its total enrollment, according to Suzanne McCray, its vice provost for enrollment and dean of admissions. Arkansas keeps four recruiters based in Texas, one in Dallas, one in Fort Worth and two in Houston, and is weighing one in Austin. McCray put the average GPA of its Texas applicants at 3.75.
Its New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award covers 70% to 90% of the extra tuition charged to qualifying Texas freshmen, the Report says. Students still pay resident tuition and other costs.
Arkansas is not alone. The Dallas/Fort Worth Admissions Regional Network, made up of recruiters who live in the area and represent colleges based outside North Texas, has roughly doubled in a decade to about 100 member institutions and more than 130 active recruiters. The University of Oklahoma has a billboard on Interstate 30 heading toward Dallas.
One family quoted in the story, whose three sons graduated from high school in Plano, said scholarship offers were what sent all three to Arkansas.
