University of Texas to offer full scholarships for students with families that make under $65,000

The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted Tuesday to create a $160 million endowment to offer full scholarships for University of Texas at Austin students from families who earn less than $65,000 a year.

The fund will also be used to provide some guaranteed tuition for UT Austin students from families earning up to $125,000 if needed.

{mosads}“Recognizing both the need for improved access to higher education and the high value of a UT Austin degree, we are dedicating a distribution from the Permanent University Fund to establish an endowment that will directly benefit students and make their degrees more affordable,” regents board chair Kevin Eltife said in a statement

“This will benefit students of our great state for years to come.”

The program is only for in-state undergraduate students.

The new money put toward scholarships comes after the University of Texas dedicated $7.5 million annually to tuition assistance for middle-income students in 2016. 

The university said in a statement that there are roughly 8,600 undergraduate students at UT Austin from families who make less than $65,000 a year.

Attention to the the skyrocketing costs of college has increased recently, with many Democratic presidential candidates promising to make college affordable or cancel student debt.