TX—In a bold move unfamiliar to many colleges, the University of Texas, Dallas, and the University of Texas, Arlington, have both agreed to give undergraduate students who have annual family incomes of less than $25,000 free tuition. The initiative does not rely on outside sources to help underprivileged individuals; it takes control of the situation by using funds already available to the college.
Eligible students will have to maintain a specific grade point average in order to receive the funds but will not have to pay back any of the grant money given to them by the school if they work hard at achieving their goals. According to University of Texas Chancellor Mark Yudoff, "This has a major impact on families when they sit down at the dinner table and say, 'We'd love for John or Jane to go to college, but we don't know if we can pay for it.'" Many undergraduates are in positions to take advantage of the new program, which is set to start in 2007.
The move to assist lower-income families with education funding could set a trend for the rest of the country to follow. The colleges are not using specific grants from outside sources but are using their own resources to help solve a familiar crisis amongst financially disadvantaged students. The idea is to give hope to students who would otherwise give up on affording college educations.
In order to make the program work properly, the university will need to assign 20% of the revenue from tuition increases to financial aid. Revenue from tuition increases should cover the majority of the additional expenses. This system will assist lower-income students by setting aside a surplus generated by higher tuition costs and giving that money back to students who cannot afford tuition.
Many students who do not qualify for this new program still have alternatives, according to loan specialist Matt Winger, who said, "We are always finding ways of enabling students to pay for their education. We have all of the latest rates and ways to defer loans until the student can find the means to repay the debt."
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