I would suggest starting by visiting a few schools if that is possible. Even local or nearby schools can be helpful. Would he like an urban campus, like Rice or University of Houston? Would a state flagship campus, like, for example, the University of Oklahoma (UT-Austin is a little more urban than some of these, which is why I use OU)? Would a small LAC in a small town be okay (I don’t know an example in TX, but there are lots of them in the Midwest).
Maybe you drive over to Colorado. University of Colorado in Boulder is a spectacularly beautiful example of a flagship campus; Colorado College in Colorado Springs is a good example of an LAC; Colorado School of Mines in Golden is a good example of a STEM school; University of Denver, urban school with a distinct campus; Colorado State is in the very nice college town of Fort Collins. You could also check out the Air Force Academy, also Colorado Springs.
You might google “colleges that meet full financial need” and “colleges that give good merit aid.” The former may not actually meet all the need that you perceive, but they are striving to meet it, and with as few loans as possible. He sounds like a good student. If his test scores are high, he might be eligible for significant merit aid. It seems to me that most typically LACs (private schools) will effectively discount their sticker prices to attract quality students. Not very many families can pay $60k or so per year. Particularly in the Midwest, students often get approximately $10-$25 off the sticker price, which means they can still be expensive. But sometimes a student can receive more merit aid. I like this simple table to illustrate that (Miami of Ohio is a public university)
http://miamioh.edu/admission/merit-grid/
You might also google college entry programs for Hispanic students, and the same with summer programs added, and also college scholarship programs for Hispanic students. These programs are designed to assist students in learning about colleges and the college application process. At many schools, Hispanic students are very underrepresented, and schools are anxious to address this. I don’t know much about this but found these great looking programs in a few minutes of googling.
https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/scholarships/neubauer
https://www.du.edu/admission-aid/undergraduate/pioneer-prep/index.html
https://www.du.edu/admission-aid/undergraduate/pioneer-prep/index.html
I would imagine that most of these summer programs will be taking applications soon after the New Year and into February. So now is a great time to research them.
And especially his junior year, not now, you might look at the admissions webpages for schools that look interesting to find if they offer special opportunities for visiting that might apply. Often schools look positively on student “interest,” which includes getting info on the school and especially visiting and interviewing (not now, more like late junior year/senior year). Also schools have net price calculators (NPCs) on their admissions pages. You can enter your info, and it will give you an estimate of the cost to attend for your particular case.
Good luck!