The University of Texas at Dallas today announced two initiatives for next fall that aim to make college more accessible for incoming new students and their families by guaranteeing fixed tuition and mandatory fees for new students for four years and removing cost barriers that impede students from low-income families.
The university’s new tuition initiatives build on an already robust financial aid program that offers approximately $20 million in various forms of financial aid each year to UT Dallas students. Approximately 56 percent of UT Dallas students receive such assistance.
“Family income levels should never pose a barrier to receiving a great education,” said President David E. Daniel. “There is a lot of help available to students, but we clearly need to do more to make them aware of it. Too many students and their parents believe college is beyond their means, and that isn’t the case.”
The initiative includes:
- The UT Dallas Guaranteed Tuition Plan, which will offer incoming undergraduate students fixed tuition and mandatory fees for a period of four academic years.
- The UT Dallas Tuition Promise, which will dedicate resources to cover the tuition and mandatory fees for newly enrolling students whose families earn $25,000 or less annually, and who meet other qualifications.
Every newly enrolled student will be subject to the Guaranteed Tuition Plan.
“With the UT Dallas Guaranteed Tuition Plan, students and parents will know that their tuition and required fee costs will not increase for a full four years. That, combined with the Tuition Promise, offers a great deal of encouragement to those who might previously have felt overwhelmed at the prospect of paying for college,” Daniel said. “Students need to get in touch with our financial aid office. More than half our student population receives financial aid and we will work with students to find a way to help them succeed.” Both programs will be effective in the fall semester of 2007.
UT Dallas Guaranteed Tuition Plan
The Guaranteed Tuition Plan is designed to help new students and their families better plan for the cost of a college education, while allowing the university to maintain the quality of its academic programs. It will also provide an incentive for students to earn a degree in a timely manner, since additional courses taken beyond 15 credit hours each semester will, in essence, be free.
Under the terms of the plan, undergraduate students enrolling at UT Dallas for the first time for the Fall 2007, Spring 2008 and Summer 2008 semesters will be charged for tuition and mandatory fees fixed at the Fall 2007 rates for all succeeding semesters through the Summer of 2011. The cohort of new students who enroll at UT Dallas in the 2008-09 academic year will pay tuition and mandatory fees at a new rate which will also be guaranteed for the following four years.
The charges per semester credit hour for tuition and mandatory fees at UT Dallas will depend on the number of hours for which a student enrolls. In addition to tuition and mandatory fees, there are program-specific fees of $50 per semester credit hour that apply to courses offered by certain programs, such as Electrical Engineering, Management and Arts and Technology, among others.
Students who enrolled at UT Dallas prior to Fall 2007 will be charged a different rate than the newly enrolled students. That rate remains subject to increase each year. The Guaranteed Tuition program is open to currently enrolled students but, unless a student has more than two full years of instructional work left to complete, the benefit of joining the program would be very limited, if any.
Those who begin their college careers at a community college will also be able to take advantage of UT Dallas’ Guaranteed Tuition Plan under a new program called the Comet Connection. Students enrolling at participating two-year schools in the 2007-08 academic year can lock in the same Fall 2007 rate for new students for the same four-year period as students who begin at UT Dallas. Students need to contact UT Dallas’ Comet One-Stop office at 972-883-2270 for more information, or go to
http://www.utdallas.edu/connect/ for more information.
UT Dallas is one of a handful of public universities in the U.S., and one of only two in the University of Texas System that offer students fixed tuition and mandatory fees.
UT Dallas Tuition Promise
The Tuition Promise will apply to new, full-time undergraduate students who are residents of Texas. To be eligible, students must be admitted to the university, and have turned in all financial aid forms with supporting documents by March 31.
To benefit from the plan, students must be eligible to receive federal Pell grants and the annual family income of their families may not exceed $25,000. Students must be full-time – taking 12 semester credit hours of classes or more at UT Dallas. In addition, students must meet UT Dallas entrance requirements.
To remain eligible for the program, students must complete 30 credit hours each year with a minimum 2.5 term and cumulative grade point average, and must continue to meet income and grant eligibility requirements. Students must reapply for the program each year by the deadline and meet eligibility requirements. The Promise will be effective for four years or until a student graduates, whichever comes first. The Promise will pay only for classes taken in the fall and spring semesters.
To apply, students must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and related documents by March 31, the university’s current deadline for financial aid. They must be fully admitted to the university by that date as well.
For additional information about the Guaranteed Tuition Plan or the Tuition Promise, please call the UT Dallas Financial Aid Office at 972-883-2941.
About UT Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 14,500 students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UT Dallas, please visit the university’s website at www.utdallas.edu.