Summary

The University of Texas System has approved a tuition-free program for undergraduate students from families earning $100,000 or less, starting next fall.

The initiative, funded by an immediate $35 million in endowments and long-term investments, seeks to lower student debt and improve access to higher education.

Qualifying students must be Texas residents, enroll full-time, and apply for financial aid.

While the program builds on previous UT tuition relief efforts funded by endowments and oil royalties, critics, including Texas lawmakers, have called it unconstitutional and proposed cutting UT’s budget.

  • solrize@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    This is nice to hear but there are lots of expenses besides tuition. Like housing, books, food, “fees”, etc. If the program costs just $35mm in a huge university like that, you know it’s not covering much. Source: this was sort of the situation at my old school. Tuition was fairly low back then, but everything else still added up.

    • blackwateropeth@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      If you live close enough and source your books from somewhere else than the campus bookstore you solve most of these problems. Unless a course uses Pearson, fuck Pearson.

    • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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      10 hours ago

      Your point on addtional costs stands, but it looks like the 35 Million isn’t the wh9le picture.

      Unless I’m misreading the article this program is, rather than new, an extension and expansion of their previous 2019 tuition assistance plan.

      In 2019, the Regents established a $167 million endowment at UT Austin to fully cover tuition and mandatory fees for in-state undergraduate students from families earning less than $65,000, and cover the majority of tuition fees for families earning up to $125,000.

      In 2022, the Regents extended the program to all UT academic institutions with a second endowment of nearly $300 million, known as “Promise Plus.”

      I didn’t see the details of this new plan but extrapolating, they still offer reduced or dismissed fees on a sliding income scale.