JULY 22, 2020 — UTSA and the San Antonio Independent School District have signed a five-year memorandum of understanding that will provide high-achieving SAISD students and alumni with a tuition-free pathway to pursue their bachelor’s degrees. About 200 students are expected to participate in the program annually, improving college completion rates within San Antonio’s first-generation and low-income communities.
To help the students focus on their academics, UTSA will award full-tuition packages to SAISD graduates in the top half of their graduating classe. The university will cover their cost of tuition using financial aid available from state and federal sources, excluding loans. Any difference will be covered by existing institutional sources that are designated for financial aid.
“There are so many talented students right here in San Antonio who dream of earning their degrees but do not have the financial means to do so,” said UTSA Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Kimberly Andrews Espy. “This important partnership with SAISD will help us better reach these hard-working students, particularly students in low-income and first-generation families, and provide them with the opportunity to earn their degrees and launch their careers.”
UTSA is a top choice school for SAISD students. More than 600 students from the SAISD class of 2019 applied for admission to UTSA. About 450 were admitted and 210 of those enrolled at the university.
To increase these admission and matriculation rates, UTSA will direct fall application outreach efforts toward SAISD students and alumni, assign recruiters to SAISD applicants and provide the district with access to the names and contact information of SAISD students and alumni who apply to and enroll at UTSA. It will also more deeply educate SAISD counselors and advisers about its various student success and retention initiatives to support first-generation college students and students from low-income families.
At the same time SAISD will promote UTSA as an attractive higher education option to its high school students and their families. It will also work within its schools to provide UTSA with access to recruit students who are a match and fit for the university and to connect with those who declare an interest for UTSA. At districtwide college fairs it will place UTSA in a high-traffic location.
The first cohort of students will matriculate to UTSA in fall 2021.
“Last year, we introduced our Bold Promise program, which provides a tuition-free pathway for highly qualified Texas residents from low- and middle-income families,” said Lynn Barnes, senior vice provost for strategic enrollment at UTSA. “Through this agreement with SAISD, we are deepening our commitment to make higher education affordable and accessible. For so many San Antonians, this will be a life-changing opportunity to build an exciting career.”
UTSA and SAISD currently have a series of student success programs underway, including dual-credit programs, specialty career pathways and college-prep support activities, such as test prep, senior essay writing and college exploration.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Come celebrate the doctoral students graduating this commencement season.
H-E-B Student Union Ballrooms, UTSA Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and College of Sciences.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203Celebrate the accomplishments of the graduates of the Carlos Alvarez College of Business, College of Education and Human Development, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St, San Antonio, TX 78203First Friday Stargazing gives anyone free access to the night sky using university telescopes and teaching equipment. Weather permitting, experienced astronomers will provide a handful of telescopes of varying designs, give training on how each operates, and point to various astronomical objects that may appear in the sky for that given time of the year. If you have a telescope and do not know how to operate it, feel free to bring it and get instructions on its use.
4th Floor of Flawn Science Building, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education.
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to ending generations of discrimination and inequity. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
