WholeAustin · Austin metro · Colleges & Universities
The complete Austin guide to colleges & universities — the local businesses and the firms that shape the market, each read for how findable it is online, alongside the concepts, the news and the questions that define the field. Own one? See where you stand and exactly what to improve.
4 local colleges & universities businesses, each graded on the nine things that decide whether a customer or an AI assistant can find and trust them. Open any name for the full write-up and the specific fixes.
| Business | Area | Site score |
|---|---|---|
| Texas State Technical Collegewww.tstc.edu | Hutto | 802 to fix |
| Texas State University - Round Rockwww.rrc.txstate.edu | Round Rock | 703 to fix |
| South University, Austinwww.southuniversity.edu/austin | Round Rock | 534 to fix |
| Temple Collegewww.templejc.edu | Hutto | 277 to fix |
70+ solid 45–69 gaps under 45 costing customers
1 Austin colleges & universities businesses we could find no website for — each one invisible to everyone searching online right now. Listed as opportunity, never scored. Is one of these yours? Get online →
8 Austin colleges & universities businesses that have a website which blocked our scanner — common when a site filters datacenter traffic, and not a sign the site is broken. Listed with their site; a blocked site is never scored zero.
The firms, funds and institutions that set the terms in colleges & universities — context, not local listings; never scored.
A page per institution and per head-to-head comparison — control (public, private nonprofit, for-profit), size, setting, Carnegie classification, accreditor, and who it actually competes with. Comparison pages are how families search once they have a shortlist, and they are the highest-intent pillar in the cluster.
Program-level pages by field and level — associate, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, certificate. Search intent is almost never 'college'; it is 'nursing program Austin' or 'online MBA part time'. Each page needs the credential awarded, accreditation status, delivery mode and career destination.
Freshman, transfer, graduate and international requirements; early action, early decision and rolling deadlines; testing policy; essay and recommendation requirements; and what holistic review actually weighs. Requirements change annually, so every page must carry an entering-class year.
Cost of attendance components, the difference between sticker and net price, net price calculators, FAFSA and the Student Aid Index, Pell eligibility, merit versus need-based aid, gapping, and how to read an award letter. This is where trust is won or lost.
Common App versus ApplyTexas, portal mechanics, fee waivers, document and transcript submission, self-reported academic records, and what happens between submitting and hearing back. Process anxiety drives enormous search volume that institutions systematically underserve.
Course equivalency, articulation agreements, core curriculum transfer, associate-to-bachelor's pathways, credit for prior learning, and reverse transfer. In Texas this is a funded state priority, not just a service — which makes it a content pillar with budget behind it.
Dual credit, concurrent enrollment, early college high schools, AP and IB credit policy, and the cost and transferability questions parents ask. Texas funds community colleges partly on dual-credit completion, so the audience includes high school counselors and districts, not only families.
Fully online and hybrid programs, competency-based education, accelerated terms, credit for prior learning, stop-out re-engagement, and employer tuition benefits. A separate funnel with separate objections — time, not prestige, is the constraint.
First-year retention, six-year graduation rates, advising and early-alert systems, first-generation and basic-needs support, and what actually moves persistence. Increasingly the content that matters to a skeptical family, because getting in is not the risk — not finishing is.
Earnings data, employment placement, graduate school placement, debt-to-earnings, licensure pass rates and employer partnerships, tied to specific programs rather than to the institution as a whole. Program-level outcome claims must be sourced and dated.
Inquiry generation, search name buys, demonstrated interest, yield events, melt prevention, CRM segmentation, attribution, and the honest arithmetic of cost per enrolled student. Written for enrollment leadership, not for applicants — a distinct and valuable audience.
Institutional and programmatic accreditation, substantive change, Title IV eligibility, gainful employment and financial value transparency, state authorization and NC-SARA, the 90/10 rule, and Clery and Title IX obligations. This pillar protects every claim made elsewhere on the site.
IPEDS surveys and cohort definitions, FTE versus headcount, Clearinghouse enrollment reporting, Common Data Set, and why two published numbers for the same institution can both be correct. The reference layer that makes the rest of the site citable.
Master's, doctoral and professional program admission, funding, assistantships, portfolio and test requirements, and the distinct ROI math of graduate study. Overlaps with but is not the same funnel as undergraduate recruitment.
Credential evaluation, English proficiency, I-20 and visa process, on-campus employment and practical training, and the yield volatility that comes with visa policy. Requires country-specific content, not one generic page.
The local landscape — UT Austin, Austin Community College, St. Edward's, Huston-Tillotson, Concordia Texas, Southwestern in Georgetown, Austin Seminary, and Texas State in San Marcos — plus cost of living, internships in the Austin employer base, and transfer pathways between them. The anchor market and the strongest local-search opportunity.
the SAI replaced the EFC under FAFSA simplification and can go below zero, which the EFC could not; describe what the index is used for rather than computing one
explain the form's purpose and the IRS data exchange; the opening date has moved in recent cycles, so cite the federal aid site for the current year rather than repeating a date
net price is cost of attendance minus gift aid, and it is the only number that compares across institutions; say so plainly - this is where families are most often misled
every institution must publish one, but accuracy depends on how much of the family's real financial picture it asks for; treat the output as an estimate, not an offer
test-optional means scores are considered if submitted; distinguish it from test-blind, and note that policy is set per institution and per entering class
describe the components normally weighed - rigour, performance, context, essays, activities - without implying a fixed weighting, which institutions do not publish
the load-bearing distinction is whether the offer is binding; say which one commits the student and which one does not
separate institutional from programmatic accreditation and tie institutional accreditation to federal aid eligibility and credit transfer
define it as the federal unit of academic work behind tuition, transfer and aid, and note contact hours are a different measure
a high school course that also earns college credit; be clear that transferability to the receiving institution is the thing to verify, not the credit itself
national high school graduate counts are projected to decline after a peak while the South holds up better; frame Texas as competing for a still-growing pool, and cite the projection source
control determines governance, funding and some federal rules; avoid quality claims attached to control type
Title IV is the gateway to federal grants and loans; if a program is not covered, the aid the family is counting on does not exist
UT Austin reinstated a testing requirement after the test-optional period; cite the university's own announcement and state the entering class it applies to
Texas automatic admission applies at a percentage threshold that UT Austin has adjusted between classes, and it does not guarantee a specific major; cite the admissions office for the current class
usually yes on tuition, but the saving only holds if credits transfer and apply to the degree; make credit loss the central variable rather than the price comparison
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