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UT to give full scholarships to in-state students from families making less than $65K

Machinator

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Machinator

Machinator 32099

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All University of Texas in-state students with families that make less than $65,000 a year will be given full scholarships beginning in fall 2020.

A $160 million endowment created Tuesday after a UT System Board of Regents vote means that an estimated 21 percent of new and enrolled undergraduate students will now automatically be given free rides at the state’s flagship public university. If it was applied now, 8,600 in-state students would qualify for free tuition.

Further, the endowment will provide tuition assistance to any in-state student with a family income of $125,000 or less — an estimated 5,700 additional students.

“Recognizing both the need for improved access to higher education and the high value of a UT Austin degree, we are dedicating a distribution from the Permanent University Fund to establish an endowment that will directly benefit students and make their degrees more affordable,” regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said Tuesday in an announcement. “This will benefit students of our great state for years to come.”

The program is only for UT-Austin students. Out-of-state and graduate students, who had rallied for more support earlier this year, are not eligible for the program. State law mandates that 90% of UT’s student body come from Texas.

The $160 million endowment will supplement federal and state tuition assistance programs already in place for lower income students. It was a part of a one-time $250 million transfer from the Permanent University Fund.

That money comes mainly from oil and gas royalties from the 2.1 million acres in West Texas granted to the UT and Texas A&M University systems in 1876. The total size of the UT System’s endowment is $22.3 billion — nearly the same as Zimbabwe’s GDP, according to the International Monetary Fund.

“I am grateful to the UT System Board of Regents and Chairman Kevin Eltife for prioritizing students and investing in the future of our great state,” said UT President Gregory L. Fenves. “Chairman Eltife understands that college affordability is one of the most critical issues affecting all Texans. Thanks to his leadership and the board’s action, this new endowment will go a long way toward making our university affordable for talented Texas students from every background and region.”

The creation of the endowment comes after UT dedicated $7.5 million annually to tuition assistance for middle income students in 2016. In 2018, Fenves launched the Texas Advance Commitment program and added $5 million to the annual fund. That made tuition free to all in-state students with family incomes $30,000 or less.

This comes after UT has been criticized for not using more of the endowment to aid students with tuition and other expenses. Student loan debt for Texas graduates has risen in recent years, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The average UT student graduates with $24,883 in student loan debt, ranking it generally on the cheaper side for a public university, according to a recent study from LendEdu.

 

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10958

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My brother in law is entering the 9th grade in the fall and they are a poor immigrant single mother household. Maybe this will give him a boost and he could get that sweet free college?

 

 

 

Nah he'll still play fortnite all day and make a D in Spanish that he speaks fluently.

Image result for how do I reach these kids gif

 

Seriously great for the state and for UT.

Edited by SimonBolivar
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BurdineBandit

BurdineBandit 815

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I'm happy this is happening, glad to see the University make a commitment to the poors (which I would've benefitted from when I attended), but it's not a full scholarship. Most (or at least a big portion) of these families making under $60k will be receiving some form of financial aid from the Federal or State governments already. The Pell grant is usually $5500 a year, and Texas grants are pretty sizeable (the state's income-based assistance), so UT is just offering gap coverage to cover whatever (if any) is needed to reach the tuition amount. For the poorest among these families, UT will be covering very little.

 

Other universities already had programs like this in place. I thought it was a cool idea until you actually read it and realize the universities are just offering gap coverage. And as I'm sure many of us on this board that actually spent time on the 40 acres can attest, tuition is probably not even half of the total cost of attendance.

Edited by BurdineBandit
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Captainant

Captainant 27655

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This is great. I wish it was being funded by the state itself rather than the university system (which is sort of semantic difference anyways), but this is a wonderful step forward for accessibility to education. I wonder what number they're looking at for familial income (W2 AGI, FAFSA EFC, etc) to determine qualification

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Rougarou

Rougarou 594

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How does this work. Hypothetically could one just quit his job and take a sabbatical and not make more than $65k the child's senior year and then get a free ride for a year or two? What is tuition like $30k a year now for in-state? Just trying to think through (as I'm sure they have) how it would be abused and how one could catch it and avoid it.

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Murfdogg21

Murfdogg21 4412

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Can they also cap tuition or significantly curb increases using the endowment? It has been increasing on average 8% per year at UT since 2008. For the families with 2-3 kids living in Austin making $125,001 household income, it’s not like they are wiping their asses with benjamins. $25-30k/year per kid for in state tuition, fees, etc. is a serious chunk of the budget for most families making less than $250-300k, I would imagine, maybe even higher. 

I met with a college 529 savings adviser and he told me to expect in state expenses to be $55k per year by 2035. It will not be really proportional for kids from families earning $64999 to pay nothing, kids from families making $124999 paying reduced tuition, and kids from families making $125001 paying $55k per year.  

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Hank Scorpio

Hank Scorpio 17729

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17 minutes ago, Rougarou said:

How does this work. Hypothetically could one just quit his job and take a sabbatical and not make more than $65k the child's senior year and then get a free ride for a year or two? What is tuition like $30k a year now for in-state? Just trying to think through (as I'm sure they have) how it would be abused and how one could catch it and avoid it.

I heard they were going to appoint you to the fraud investigation unit based on your posting. 

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Pancho

Pancho 44759

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Might not mean much, but my community college students always tell me "Professor Pancho, I really want to go to UT but I can't afford it."  Now instead of saying "I understand" I can give them some good news. 

(Just FYI, most students apply to the same 3 schools when transferring--UH, Sam, and A&M with the reasoning "I know I can get into those schools.")

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Dutch

Dutch 4465

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23 minutes ago, Patricio Swayze said:

What other Texas schools do this?

 

Already hearing the bitching from the middle class that it isn’t fair. That now only the poor and rich can afford to go to UT. 

Rice. Free for families < $130k; half price for families between $130 - $200k. 

https://financialaid.rice.edu/thericeinvestment

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ztejas

ztejas 43418

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2 hours ago, BurdineBandit said:

tuition is probably not even half of the total cost of attendance.

In 2019 it absolutely is if you are taking tuition at face value.

Source: about to pay grad school tuition at UTD. 

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bolverk

bolverk 29668

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33 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

$201k household income with multiple kids and paying the escalating property taxes in places like Austin, Houston, and Dallas is considered upper class?

Statewide median household income is $55,000. Income of $200,000 would be in the upper 5 percent.

https://statisticalatlas.com/state/Texas/Household-Income

Austin median is $66k.

Dallas $61k.

Houston $61k.

Edited by bolverk
This is awesome news!
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Huckleberry

Huckleberry 32851

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4 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Statewide median household income is $55,000. Income greater than $200,000 would be in the upper 5 percent.

https://statisticalatlas.com/state/Texas/Household-Income

Austin median is $66k.

Dallas $61k.

Houston $61k.

So many people have basically no idea what life is really like for the majority of people.

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Dahobbs

Dahobbs 17534

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1 hour ago, Rougarou said:

How does this work. Hypothetically could one just quit his job and take a sabbatical and not make more than $65k the child's senior year and then get a free ride for a year or two? What is tuition like $30k a year now for in-state? Just trying to think through (as I'm sure they have) how it would be abused and how one could catch it and avoid it.

Reading is hard. It is a graduated adjustment for those up to 125k. So doing stupid (and likely fraudulent) stuff like that isnt going to save you any money.

"Further, the endowment will provide tuition assistance to any in-state student with a family income of $125,000 or less — an estimated 5,700 additional students."

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31451

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4 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

Reading is hard. It is a graduated adjustment for those up to 125k. So doing stupid (and likely fraudulent) stuff like that isnt going to save you any money.

"Further, the endowment will provide tuition assistance to any in-state student with a family income of $125,000 or less — an estimated 5,700 additional students."

And, financial aid offices I am sure have mechanisms (three years of tax returns, etc.) to "combat" those who would temporarily impoverish themselves for scholarships.

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Capn81

Capn81 372

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My brother in law is entering the 9th grade in the fall and they are a poor immigrant single mother household. Maybe this will give him a boost and he could get that sweet free college?
 
 
 
Nah he'll still play fortnite all day and make a D in Spanish that he speaks fluently.
spacer.png
 
Seriously great for the state and for UT.


The world needs ditch diggers, too.
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Capn81

Capn81 372

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And, financial aid offices I am sure have mechanisms (three years of tax returns, etc.) to "combat" those who would temporarily impoverish themselves for scholarships.


I would imagine that you are right. My mother was out of work my Junior and Senior year of high school for treatment of leukemia, so we had my step-dads $34k a year job as household income. My mother had short term, and long term disability, but I was still ruled out from any aid. She worked a $75k per year job prior to being out of work.
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mdmost

mdmost 43001

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6 minutes ago, Murfdogg21 said:

How does this work for kids who emancipate themselves in court? What about 18 year old HS seniors that move out and become independent?

Is this even that big an issue to bother with? Has there been a huge increase in emancipated teens lately?

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BurdineBandit

BurdineBandit 815

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4 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

So many people have basically no idea what life is really like for the majority of people.

This thread and a thread on someone asking about moving to Austin have really opened my eyes to who posts on this board. Y'all muhfuckas rich as shit. "Can I really be expected to live somewhere around Austin with a meager $150,000 income between my wife and I who don't have kids yet but plan to soon?" If you don't get the f on....

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TKthunder2

TKthunder2 4990

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6 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Can they also cap tuition or significantly curb increases using the endowment? It has been increasing on average 8% per year at UT since 2008. For the families with 2-3 kids living in Austin making $125,001 household income, it’s not like they are wiping their asses with benjamins. $25-30k/year per kid for in state tuition, fees, etc. is a serious chunk of the budget for most families making less than $250-300k, I would imagine, maybe even higher. 

I met with a college 529 savings adviser and he told me to expect in state expenses to be $55k per year by 2035. It will not be really proportional for kids from families earning $64999 to pay nothing, kids from families making $124999 paying reduced tuition, and kids from families making $125001 paying $55k per year.  

Not sure where you’re getting you’re information.

Texas had a tuition freeze for many of those year.

Tuition is still around $5K a semester for in state students.  That’s only around $10K a year and $40K total for 4 years.  Yes, this is just tuition but it’s far less than many of our peer universities.

This is great news, but honestly my first though when I heard this was that this was likely a way for Texas to raise their tuition rate in the near future.

 

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Helobious

Helobious 9448

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25 minutes ago, futureman said:

move them to a shittier district.  top 10% (or is 7% now?) is laughably easy at some shitholes. 

The valley whites figured this out a long time ago. Private school through middle school, then 4 years at the public high school. The schools down there are overwhelmingly poor & low-performing but largely void of many of the problems you’d see at a similar school in an inner city. Almost a perfect situation in a way. Cakewalk to the (top 6% now), auto admit to UT or A&M. Somehow most of them seem to do fine in college and lead successful lives. 

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RPM

RPM 26318

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I can't tell you how happy this makes me. Every oil well in the state of Texas pays an interest to the university. That money is called the Permanent University Fund and it's over $20b and growing. We can afford to pay for young Texans that have earned a world class education, but can't afford it. The rewards are sevenfold.

Meanwhile, Danny Goeb's head just exploded.

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