Joining the Buffalo herd will continue to be easy and affordable in 2021, West Texas A&M University officials announced today.
Interested students, both undergraduate and graduate, can apply to WT for free through July 31, said Jeffrey Baylor, executive director of admissions. This applies to domestic students, not international.
Classes will resume Jan. 11 for the Spring 2021 semester. Registration is underway now at wtamu.edu/register.
“We began this policy last year as one of our efforts to help those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Baylor said. “Though we hope we are finally seeing the light at the end of that tunnel, we know that people are still suffering. Continuing to wave this fee is the right thing to do. It’s our way to give back and help families gain access to higher education.
“There is no better time than right now to be investing in students and their futures.”
Students who enroll now for classes in the spring also can begin applying for CARES Act grants Dec. 18. In May, $2.8 million was made available to WT for direct relief grants for eligible students, and as the spring semester approaches, more than $1 million is still available. Grants can help students with food, housing, course materials, technology, health care, childcare and more.
Eligible students can receive their grant funds by direct deposit or checks, though disbursement of paper checks may take up to a month.
Eligibility is determined by standards set by the Department of Education and is based on Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) filed in either the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school years. Further details on criteria for eligibility and distribution can be found at wtamu.edu/cares.
Undergraduate students may also be eligible for The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents’ Scholarship Fund, a $100 million scholarship program that was approved June 15 with the goal of making the A&M System’s 11 universities better reflect the state’s demographics. The program is to address diversity issues as well as concerns of students who are first-generation and/or from low-income families in the wake of economic uncertainty associated with COVID-19, current unemployment rates and families’ depleted emergency savings.
Beyond the spring, undergraduate students who plan to begin their studies in Fall 2021 can apply for the WT Merit Scholarship Program. The newly overhauled program will increase the number of qualifying students and raise the amount given to up to $8,000 per qualified student per year. Qualified students are guaranteed that, as long as they meet credit-hour and GPA requirements, they will receive the merit scholarship for four years or until they complete a bachelor’s degree, whichever comes first.
Students seeking graduate degrees are encouraged to apply for scholarships through the WT Graduate School. For details and information on scholarship deadlines and requirements, visit: wtamu.edu/academics/graduate-school/financial-information/Scholarship.
Identifying ways to keep costs low for students is a key component of the University’s long-term plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World, said University President Dr. Walter Wendler.
“Our goal is to provide wider university access across the Panhandle and build undergraduate academic excellence across the entire University,” Wendler said.
WT began its Fall 2020 semester with 10,169 students, the largest enrollment in the school’s history and a nearly 1 percent increase over 2019.
-West Texas A&M University
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