The UT System will expand free tuition and fees for students whose families earn $100,000 or less.

Texas Tribune

The University of Texas System is expanding its free tuition program so undergraduate students whose families earn $100,000 or less will begin receiving free tuition and fees starting next fall.

A UT Board of Regents committee gave preliminary approval to expand the Promise Plus program on Wednesday. The full council will take a final vote Thursday. Once approved, the system will send $35 million directly to universities to support the expansion, which will apply to eligible students at all nine universities.

“It is important to all of us to be able to ensure that our students can attend UT institutions without increasing debt, and while we are here, we will continue our work to provide an affordable and accessible education for all. who have decided to attend UT,” board chairman Kevin Eltiff said in a statement.

Students must be Texas residents enrolled full-time in an undergraduate program and have applied for appropriate government and financial aid to be eligible.

The expansion is the latest move by the regents to make the college more accessible to students. In 2019, the regents created a $167 million fund at the University of Texas at Austin to provide free tuition and fees to in-state undergraduate students whose families earn less than $65,000; it also provided tuition support to students from families earning less than $125,000. Three years later, the regents established the Promise Plus program with a $300 million endowment fund to help other UT System universities expand their existing financial aid programs.

The University of Texas at El Paso increased the income threshold for free tuition from $60,000 to $75,000, covering 75% of households in the region, according to the UT system.

In recent years, many universities and community colleges in Texas and across the country have launched similar tuition programs to expand college access for low-income students and encourage enrollment among those hesitant to take on student debt. Many universities structure these programs so that they pay the remainder of a student’s tuition bill after federal or state grants are applied.

The $35 million will come from endowments, the University Access Fund (an investment income from a state fund that provides money from the UT System) and other resources, the system said in a news release.

This money will immediately expand the number of UT System students who will receive free tuition and tuition next year and will provide perpetual support for the Promise Plus program.

“Across UT institutions, enrollment is rising and student debt is declining, reflecting success in both access and affordability,” Chancellor James Milliken said in a statement. “This is a rare trend in American higher education, and I am proud that the UT System can lead the way.”

Since the initial free tuition program launched, the percentage of UT System graduates with debt has dropped from 54% in 2019 to 48% in 2023, according to the UT System.

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This story was originally published Texas Tribune and is distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.