Covering tuition: UTRGV’s plan to assist more students

UTRGV’s Tuition Advantage Program, which facilitates the university’s tuition guarantee, will expand in Fall 2022 to support a larger portion of the student population.

“Every year, we continue to assess the different programs that we have available to our students,” said Griselda Castilla, UTRGV’s associate vice president for Strategic Enrollment. “This is one we’ve reviewed frequently to see if we can increase the number of students that are able to take advantage of this program. So, for that reason, we were able to go ahead and increase the family income [limit] to $100,000.”

Castilla said that Tuition Advantage is important in determining enrollment, and that while a lot of UTRGV students receive financial aid, it is not enough to cover tuition and fees for some students.

“We don’t want … the payment of tuition and fees to be a barrier to our students,” she said. “So, with the Tuition Advantage Program, we are guaranteeing our students that come from a household of $100,000 or less, that if their financial aid and scholarships is not enough to cover their tuition and mandatory fees, then we will come in and cover that balance for them.”

Students must complete the financial aid application to be considered for the Tuition Advantage Program. From there, some students are selected by the U.S. Education Department for verification.

“That’s where we get the income information from and, as a matter of fact, the U.S. Department of Education just made the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, available this past Friday, Oct. 1,” Castilla said in an interview last Tuesday. “So, our new and current students can already start submitting the application so that they can be considered for this program.”

The family income limit for the program is decided based on the new information from student FAFSAs.

“So, we do look at the number of students enrolling [and] what the income is that they’re reporting to us to determine how much we’re able to basically afford,” Castilla said. “These are institutional funds that we are using to support this program. So, we do ensure that whatever increase we make to the household income, that we’re able to fund those students.”

The Tuition Advantage Program plays a large role in enrollment due to the support it offers to both current and new students.

Castilla said that around 78% of students receive some sort of financial aid, which includes students who are covered by the Tuition Advantage Program.

“UTRGV Advantage will help us with the recruitment aspect of new students as well as the retention and graduation rates of our students that are already here with us,” she said. “UTRGV Advantage is available to new and incoming students that meet the program requirements, so it is open to all of our students pursuing their first bachelor’s degree.”

Castilla said that while the assessment of financial aid programs is routine, the effects of COVID-19 did play a factor in expanding the Tuition Advantage Program.

“We always assess our programs to see if we can further expand any of our scholarships, any of our institutional programs, like UTRGV Advantage,” she said. “One of the influencing factors, too, is that we acknowledge that students and their families still continue to be impacted by the pandemic.”

Ruben De La Cruz Jr., a computer science junior, said he should qualify for the UTRGV Advantage Program in Fall 2022 thanks to the expansion. 

“It plays a very big role,” De La Cruz replied when asked about financial aid in general. “Because, literally, I’m poor, and my family is not able to pay for the full college because we have a lot of issues, especially with [COVID-19].”

The junior said he is glad that the family income limit is being raised to help a larger group of students.

“A lot of people really do need the money,” De la Cruz said. “There’s not a lot of people that are able to afford education, and because of that, there’s a lot of people who suffer. … It’s giving more chances for a lot of people.”

Miley Cardenas, a nursing freshman, said that she already qualifies for the Tuition Advantage Program. 

“It plays a big role because it helps me financially,” Cardenas said about the program. “With my household, you know, there’s some times when we can’t really afford stuff, so financial aid really helps a lot.”

Cardenas is glad that the program exists to help students afford their education.

“I think that’s great because it would really benefit not just me, right, but a lot of people that are in this college,” she replied when asked about the program’s expansion. “It would be amazing.”

The deadline to submit the FAFSA to be considered for the Tuition Advantage Program is March 15 for current and incoming students.

“I want to encourage all of our students to do the financial aid application,” Castilla said. “One of the things we are stressing to our students is that if their income information has decreased significantly, or even just a bit, that you never know if you may qualify for at least partial financial aid. So, it’s very important that all of our students take advantage of submitting the financial aid application.”