Here's what you need to know.
Tuition-Free College Program
The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted unanimously to create a $160 million endowment that will:
Completely cover tuition and fees for students from families that earn up to $65,000 a year who have financial need, and
Provide some assured tuition support to students from families with incomes of up to $125,000 who have financial need.
The University estimates that about 8,600 students will receive free tuition annually, and 5,700 will receive support.
To benefit from the program, students must be residents of Texas; be full-time, first-time undergraduates; maintain a 2.0 GPA; and demonstrate a financial need.
The endowment — which includes money from oil and gas royalties earned on state-owned land in West Texas — more than doubles an existing program offering free tuition to students whose families make less than $30,000.
It also expands financial assistance to middle class students whose families earn up to $125,000 a year, compared to the current $100,000.
The program will be funded through Texas’s Permanent University Fund, which Texas’ constitution stipulates receives proceeds from state-owned land in West Texas- including oil and gas royalties. The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted Tuesday to start a $160 million endowment with an allotment from the fund, which will be used to pay for financial assistance.
The university would also continue to draw on other sources to partially fund the students’ tuition, including federal Pell grants and statewide programs.
UT-Austin is among the Texas system's more affordable universities; tuition and fees cost about $10,500. The endowment will foot the bill for those charges but not additional living expenses, including room and board, which can add another $17,000 in annual fees.
Officials expect about 8,600 students —.... nearly a quarter of undergraduates, including those already enrolled will benefit from the full tuition program and another 5,700 will gain access to additional financial support, the release said. Transfer students will also be eligible, but graduate students will not.
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,” Chairman Kevin Eltife said after the vote. ""This will benefit students of our great state for years to come
The high cost of college has also become a key issue in 2020, as a number of Democratic presidential candidates have advocated for a range of policy solutions. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, as well as Julian Castro, former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, have advocated for free tuition at all public institutions.
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