Karina Rodriguez | THE RIDER
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley is offering aid to students for the 2021 spring semester.
To quality for the cash grants, a student must be enrolled by Dec. 18 and have financial aid application on file. There is no minimum credit-hour requirement.
The tuition relief program is available to students who do not qualify for cash grants and need tuition assistance. If the tuition balance is covered, no tuition relief will be applied to the account. The program is specifically in place to help students who do not qualify for the cash grants, such as students in completely online programs, medical students and students who just began college. A student can receive tuition relief or cash grant but not both.
Griselda Castilla, associate vice president of strategic enrollment, explained that there are two aspects of the Spring Relief Package. The first component is the cash grants.
“So, $250 will go out to [students] before classes begin again so that they have the opportunity to purchase any material that they many need, ” Castilla said. “The second $250 will be given to our students after the 12th class day of the spring semester, and this is to assist them with any other expense that they realize they had after classes started and, of course, to help them supplement their meal expenses, childcare or any other expense that they may have.”
She then explained the second portion of the Spring Relief Package.
“The second component of spring relief is the Tuition Relief Program,” Castilla said. “So, this is for the students that are not eligible for the cash grants. These are primarily for students that are in fully online programs, students that are new to higher education, as well as our international students and our School of Medicine students… Students can receive up to $250 of tuition relief after their financial aid is appleid.”
She also explained what students should do to help them qualify for the Spring Relief Package.
“We do have a very important deadline that we want to make sure our students are aware of,” Castilla said. “Students have to be enrolled by Dec. 18. … Students also have to be eligible for financial aid, and the best way for them to prove that is by completing the financial aid application. So, students have to have the financial aid application completed by Dec. 18 as well.”
UTRGV decided to provide aid for the spring because of the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and the negative effects it has had on students.
“We acknowledge that students and their families will continue to face financial challenges due to the coronavirus,” Castilla said. “Although we did assist our students during the summer and during the fall, there are still things that they need for the spring semester. So, our plans are to assist our students. “
