The BS in Radio-Television-Film at UT Austin's Moody College of Communication is one of the most recognizable film and media programs at any large US public research university, with alumni including Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, who earned his degree from the department in 1993. UT Austin's location inside Austin, a major US media, music, and tech hub (home to South by Southwest, Austin City Limits, and a dense film and media production scene alongside Austin's tech-employer presence), gives Radio-Television-Film students an unusually direct pipeline into film, television, and digital-media production work well before graduation. For applicants weighing UT Austin's RTF program against dedicated film schools or other large public university media programs, the pitch is a large, well-resourced research university's overall brand and resources combined with a genuinely industry-connected program inside one of the most media-active mid-size US cities.
This guide walks through what UT Austin's Radio-Television-Film program actually costs, what UT Austin expects from applicants, English-test rules, and what graduates go on to do.
Acceptance Rate
UT Austin does not publish a program-specific acceptance rate for Radio-Television-Film. The only rate the university publishes is its university-wide undergraduate acceptance rate of 29.1%, based on UT Austin's own reported figures.
Treat that 29.1% figure as a university-wide proxy, not a Radio-Television-Film-specific number, for two reasons:
- UT Austin's own admissions data explicitly cautions that its most selective colleges (McCombs Business, Computer Science) review applicants considerably more competitively than the university-wide average suggests; Moody College of Communication programs, including Radio-Television-Film, similarly go through their own review rather than a flat, university-wide admit process.
- International applicants are reviewed holistically regardless of college, and UT Austin does not break out acceptance data by college or major in any published source reviewed for this profile.
Bottom line: 29.1% is the best available honestly-labeled figure, but treat it as a university-wide floor rather than a precise reflection of Radio-Television-Film's actual selectivity, which is not separately published.
Fees and Cost of Attendance
| Cost Item | Amount (USD/year) |
|---|---|
| Tuition (Radio-Television-Film, international/non-resident) | $42,554 |
| Estimated living expenses | $21,650 |
| Estimated total cost of attendance | $64,204 |
| Application fee (non-refundable, no international fee waiver) | $90 |
These figures reflect UT Austin's official 2026-27 non-resident/international published tuition base rate, which applies to the Moody College of Communication's Radio-Television-Film program specifically (per UT Austin's own course-level data). This sits at the lower end of UT Austin's overall published range: total cost of attendance across UT Austin's colleges runs $64,204-$72,916/year depending on program, with McCombs Business and Cockrell School of Engineering typically charging differential tuition above this base rate. Radio-Television-Film, by contrast, uses UT Austin's standard base tuition rather than a higher differential rate.
UT Austin explicitly states that fee waivers are not available for the international application fee, unlike the broader fee-waiver options many US universities extend.
Admission Requirements
Based on UT Austin's published international undergraduate admissions requirements:
- Common Application (Fall/Summer entry) or the Spring App via BeALonghorn (Spring entry)
- Official transcripts
- Essays: the Common App personal essay plus UT Austin-specific short-answer topics
- SAT or ACT scores (policy may vary by year and applicant pool; confirm current test-optional status directly with UT Austin)
- English proficiency scores (TOEFL/IELTS/Duolingo) for international applicants who don't qualify for a waiver
- Texas's automatic-admission (Top %) rule applies only to Texas-resident domestic applicants and does not extend to international applicants, who are reviewed holistically
UT Austin does not publish a minimum GPA for international applicants, but SAT middle-50% range (1230-1480) and ACT middle-50% range (29-34) give a general sense of the competitive academic profile at the university-wide level. Deadlines are October 15 (Early Action/Priority) or December 1 (Regular Decision) for Fall entry, and September 1 for Spring entry.
How to Get Into UT Austin's Radio-Television-Film Program
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Use your short-answer essays to show a genuine, specific interest in media production or media studies. UT Austin's supplementary essays (beyond the Common App personal essay) ask applicants to speak concretely about fit with specific programs at a large, decentralized university; a generic "I love film" essay stands out far less than one referencing specific coursework, faculty, or production tracks within RTF.
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Build a portfolio or reel if you have one, even though it's not formally required. While UT Austin's standard application doesn't mandate a portfolio for Radio-Television-Film the way a dedicated film school might, demonstrating prior production, writing, or media work (student films, podcasts, journalism, YouTube projects) strengthens your application narrative considerably.
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Apply Early Action (October 15) if your application is ready. Because Radio-Television-Film is reviewed within Moody College of Communication rather than through the university-wide pool alone, an early, complete application removes timing risk from an already selective review process.
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Clear the IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 79 floor with room to spare. Since UT Austin offers no international fee waiver and reviews holistically, a comfortable (not bare-minimum) English score removes one variable from an application that will otherwise be judged heavily on essays and academic record.
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Budget for the standard tuition rate, not the higher differential rates some other UT Austin colleges charge. Radio-Television-Film uses UT Austin's base non-resident tuition ($42,554/year) rather than McCombs Business or Engineering's higher differential tuition, which is a genuine cost advantage worth factoring into your comparison against other universities.
English Proficiency Requirement (IELTS/TOEFL)
UT Austin's undergraduate English-proficiency policy applies to Radio-Television-Film like any other undergraduate program at the university:
- IELTS: minimum 6.5 overall (Academic); no separate published component minimums found
- TOEFL: minimum 79 overall (0-120 scale), or 4 on ETS's new 1-6 CEFR-aligned scale for tests taken from January 21, 2026 onward
- Duolingo: minimum 115
- Waiver: available if you're a citizen of, and were educated in, a country where English is the sole official and primary conversational language (including Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK, among others), or if you graduated from a US high school or a qualifying country's high school after at least three years of study there
- PTE Academic is not listed as an accepted test
No dedicated IELTS or TOEFL requirement guide for UT Austin was found among Gabble's published articles at the time of writing, so these figures are presented directly from UT Austin's own published admissions data rather than linked to a separate breakdown.
Career Outcomes
UT Austin does not publish outcomes data broken out specifically for Radio-Television-Film, but UT Austin's broader undergraduate outcomes data give a useful proxy, and RTF's real strength is arguably its alumni network and Austin's media-production ecosystem rather than a specific published salary figure:
- Top recruiters (university-wide undergraduate): Tesla, Apple, Oracle, Deloitte, ExxonMobil, Dell Technologies
- Radio-Television-Film graduates specifically also feed into the film, television, streaming, and digital-media industries centered on Los Angeles and New York, as well as Austin's own growing production scene tied to events like South by Southwest and Austin City Limits.
- No specific employment-rate or starting-salary figures are published in this dataset for Radio-Television-Film specifically; treat the recruiter list and industry context as directional rather than a guarantee of outcomes.
Matthew McConaughey, an Academy Award-winning actor (Dallas Buyers Club), earned his BSc from UT Austin's Moody College of Communication (Radio-Television-Film) in 1993, illustrating the program's long-standing connection to major entertainment-industry careers.
FAQ
Does UT Austin publish an acceptance rate for Radio-Television-Film? No. UT Austin does not break out acceptance data by college or major. The only published figure is the university-wide undergraduate acceptance rate of 29.1%, which should be treated as a floor rather than a precise reflection of RTF's specific selectivity.
How much does UT Austin's Radio-Television-Film program cost for international students? Tuition is $42,554/year at UT Austin's standard non-resident base rate, with an estimated total cost of attendance of $64,204/year including living expenses. This is at the lower end of UT Austin's overall published range, since RTF doesn't carry the differential tuition charged by McCombs Business or Engineering.
What IELTS or TOEFL score do I need for UT Austin? The published minimums are IELTS 6.5 overall or TOEFL iBT 79 overall (4 overall on ETS's new 1-6 scale for tests from January 21, 2026 onward). Duolingo is also accepted with a minimum of 115.
Does Texas's automatic-admission rule apply to international RTF applicants? No. Texas's Top % automatic-admission rule applies only to Texas-resident domestic applicants. International applicants to Radio-Television-Film are reviewed holistically through the standard Common Application process.
Is a portfolio or demo reel required to apply to RTF? UT Austin's standard undergraduate application does not formally require a portfolio for Radio-Television-Film, but demonstrating prior media, writing, or production work strengthens an application considerably given how competitive Moody College's review process is.
Does UT Austin offer fee waivers for the international application fee? No. UT Austin's $90 undergraduate application fee is non-refundable, and the university explicitly states fee waivers are not available for international applicants specifically.