It won’t be long before vacation season wraps up, the long July days turn slightly shorter with the arrival of August, and suddenly it’s time to stock up on school supplies. In Amarillo and Canyon, “school” is a broad concept. It applies to preschoolers just learning letters and numbers, to students building a public school foundation in K-12, and to aspiring college students, technicians-in-training and future physicians. This special section on education covers everything from our region’s tiniest learners at Opportunity School to the halls of higher education at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. [
Amarillo College
Just a year ago, Amarillo College reached the pinnacle of national success when it received the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the country’s signature recognition of achievement and performance. This prestigious honor is given out every two years, which means AC will remain the reigning Aspen Prize winner throughout the 2024-25 school year.
But the school isn’t about to take a breather or bask in the accolades. That would be out of character. In fact, the recognition has only spurred new energy and activity on campus.
Some of the most visible changes are physical, especially on the Washington Street Campus. The new Enrollment Center and the revamped FirstBank Southwest Center are now among AC’s crown jewels. The former Student Service Center is well on its way to a complete makeover. Renovations to the bustling Ware Student Commons soon will boast a revamped library as well as top-drawer tutoring and counseling hubs.
There’s no shortage of updates to AC’s already rigorous academic offerings, either. These may be most visible on the East Campus, where the college’s long-running Industrial Technology program has been rebranded into Advanced Manufacturing. The new name better reflects a curriculum aligned with the latest advancements in manufacturing technology—robotics and automation, AI and data analytics, cybersecurity—which push the boundaries of current manufacturing practices.
What’s driving these changes? For some, the answer may be surprising. AC has long provided students with a solid academic foundation, whether they are looking to immediately enter the workforce or proceed to a university.
But the driving force behind most decisions on Amarillo College campuses is what the school’s administrators call its “Culture of Caring.”
In 2015, the College intentionally shifted its focus to prioritize student success. The Culture of Caring was designed to connect first-generation and academically underprepared students with social services structured to help them overcome barriers to success. As a result, the College opened a mental health counseling center, a legal aid clinic, a career and employment center, and a childcare center. AC also launched an Advocacy and Resource Center, which houses a food pantry and inhouse social workers, and connects students with social services provided by more than 60 local nonprofits. Almost immediately, this shift thrust Amarillo College into the national spotlight.
In concert with these innovative social supports,
the College prioritized improving students’ time-tocompletion by adopting 8-week semesters. As a result, more students are able to attend classes full time.
AC’s Culture of Caring prioritizes “loving students to success”—a phrase you’ll hear often among administrators, faculty and staff. The success is real. Over the past decade, AC’s three-year completion rates have tripled from 19 percent to 60 percent.
They’re also finding success at a faster pace. AC’s corequisite program pairs developmental courses with credit-bearing courses. This helps increase underprepared students’ transferable credit hours while they are getting up to speed.
Meanwhile, a quality enhancement plan called Smart Start to Finish is designed to improve retention by focusing on student engagement and connectedness, starting at pre-enrollment of potential students and lasting through graduation or transfer. Within this plan, success coaches mentor students throughout their academic journey. Students who underachieve at any point receive access to free compulsory tutoring.
It helps that Amarillo College employees are some of the most engaged in the nation, ranking in the 95th percentile for engagement in the Gallup Q12 database for higher education institutions.
AC has come a long way since 1929, when 86 students answered the inaugural roll call. Today, Amarillo College enrolls about 9,000 students across six campuses in three Texas Panhandle communities—Amarillo (4 campuses), Dumas, and Hereford. Intercollegiate athletics are back for the first time since the mid-1980s, with teams in men’s baseball, women’s volleyball, and men’s and women’s cross country. The AC Badgers hold membership in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference.
The unflagging community support for Amarillo College was clear in the 2019 passage of an $89 million bond issue, which has helped fund many of the major physical renovations and infrastructure upgrades. But the transformation of AC isn’t over thanks to the 2020 launch of Badger Bold, the College’s first-ever comprehensive campaign. This $45 million campaign—guided by the nonprofit AC Foundation—has realized approximately $38 million, representing around 84 percent of its ambitious goal.
Nationwide, half the students enrolled in higher education are being served by community colleges, and in Amarillo, they benefit from the top community college in the nation. Amarillo College isn’t about to rest in its mission of loving students to success.
The Ascension Difference
“Ascension Academy is a great private school that offers so many opportunities for families who want to provide their children a great education to fit their specific needs. They offer small class sizes, which means your child will have one-on-one attention from teachers and will receive the extra help they need. Ascension Academy offers a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for college and more.”
—Dey Gabriel, Current Ascension Parent
Ascension students range in social and economic status, athletic abilities, artistic expression, and academic skills. What these diverse students have in common is a desire to be challenged in an environment where they can be themselves and be an important part of a close-knit community that recognizes their individual gifts and talents.
Ascension is a place where students can find themselves and their passion. It is a place where they can be challenged academically in a safe environment. It is a place where they can branch out and try new things. All of these things add up to make Ascension a unique school community that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the Panhandle—it is the Ascension Difference.
“Both of my Ascension graduates left Ascension Academy with vast knowledge and the ability to multitask in and out of the classroom and were prepared for the rigors of college-level classes and academic work. Both of them feel that they had an easier time transitioning to college life and curriculum because of the academic foundation that Ascension gave them.”
—Deanna Morris, Current and Alumni Parent
Ascension students are encouraged and supported to become well-rounded individuals who can call themselves Scholars, Artists, Athletes, and Leaders—our Four Pillars. Grounded in our Four Pillars and given opportunities to grow, an Ascension Graduate becomes a confident, collaborative, lifelong learner who is well-prepared for success in college and in life. How are students grounded in the Four Pillars? The school offers unique electives in addition to advanced core classes, language courses, leadership opportunities, athletic programs, fine arts, student clubs, and TAPPS or WTCAA competitions in the arts, academics, and athletics.
SCHOLARS
Ascension Academy is committed to furnishing an exemplary collegepreparatory education to its students. It offers a number of AP, DualCredit, and Pre-AP courses. All core classes are vertically aligned, beginning in middle school. Students have earned prestigious recognitions, such as National Merit Scholar, National Hispanic Scholar, Texas Aerospace Scholar, AP Capstone Diploma Scholar, DAR Award Scholar, and National AP Scholar. Ascension Academy is also a member of the Cum Laude Society and National Honor Society, and inducts members each spring. Ascension is 1 of only 14 Cum Laude Society member schools in the state of Texas. The prestigious Cum Laude Society of 383 chapters worldwide honors the scholastic achievement of secondary school students.
ARTISTS
The opportunity for creative expression is both valued and encouraged at Ascension Academy, and many students are enrolled in multiple fine arts disciplines. Ascension offers several levels of Orchestra, Band, and Choir, in addition to Studio Art, and Theater. Ascension Artists are passionate about their craft and spend countless hours practicing on and off campus. The result is award-winning programs and coveted memberships, such as the International Thespian Society.
ATHLETES
Ascension Academy recognizes the need for students to develop physically as well as mentally. Athletics provides abundant opportunities for character development—from teamwork and coachability to perseverance and humility. Ascension offers a robust number of sports and many students also participate in off-campus athletics that support their passion and earn credit.
LEADERS
Leadership is a quality that Ascension intentionally works to develop in all of its students. Students are members of councils and ambassador groups and are the face of Ascension at all campus ceremonies and events. They plan, execute, and lead these important activities, in addition to setting an example for others. Students are encouraged to engage in a number of activities and groups that take them beyond the classroom in order to foster a deeper understanding of their responsibilities to their community.
“[My daughter] came into Ascension as a quiet, shy sixth-grader. Today, she is challenged in and out of the classroom and she has the confidence to go out and try new activities at school. She has become a leader, speaks her ideas in the room, and is a supporting voice to others around her.”
—Deanna Morris, Current and Alumni Parent
Ascension Academy has a 100 percent college acceptance rate for its graduating classes every year. The Class of 2024, a diverse group of 15 students, received more than $2.2 million in university offered, merit-based scholarships from more than 33 colleges and universities. Ascension Academy graduates attend colleges across the country, ranging from every major college and university in Texas and East Coast schools such as Yale, Princeton, and NYU to West Coast schools such as UCLA, Stanford, Pepperdine, and many more in between. The Ascension Difference creates confident, independent learners who are successful in college and beyond as they begin careers or advanced degrees. Ascension graduates are those college students who excel in their fields of study and are those their college classmates depend on to get help in advanced math or to review an English paper. They take leadership roles on their campuses and in their communities. They take their knowledge, compassion, and leadership skills with them wherever they go because they learned and practiced what being a global citizen means as Cardinals at Ascension Academy.
Amarillo ISD Just has MORE to Offer
Recent Amarillo High graduate Zeke Riddley is about to take his spot on a 22-time national champion dance team at Stephen F. Austin State University. Garrett Saied, also an Amarillo High grad, is on his way to Swarthmore College, one of the “Little Ivies,” to study physics. Sawyer McCaslin, a homeschool graduate who spent some of his high school years at AmTech, is already careerready with multiple trade certifications and plans to enroll in an apprenticeship program. All three students have very different paths behind and in front of them; each of them worked hard to pursue their dreams, supported by Amarillo ISD’s exclusive educational opportunities.
“I honestly don’t know where I would be without dance in AISD. That’s when my life took a big leap,” says Zeke.
AISD students can take dance for PE or fine arts credit, and with each year, the District’s dance program grows in size and variety. School dance programs aren’t offered anywhere else in the Panhandle, making dance in AISD all the more valuable, says Zeke.
“Dance in the Panhandle region is not as prevalent as it is in the Dallas or Houston area. Here, you really have to work even harder if you want to make it your profession. AISD offering dance within the public schools gives students a great way to connect to a network in the dance world and that is very important. Without it, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet other coaches and professional dancers,” he says.
Networking within a specialty program also helped connect Sawyer to an in-demand career path. Sawyer came to AmTech as a homeschooled freshman—an option available to homeschooled students who live in AISD—ready to learn the automotive trades.
In his time at AmTech, Sawyer completed the first year of apprentice training as an electrician and earned a stack of professional certifications, including OSHA 10, HVAC EPA Universal,
ASE Auto Maintenance and Light Repair. He’ll spend the next three years completing training in a learn-while-you-earn program at West Texas Electrical Training, a connection he made at AmTech.
“It’s a huge advantage, not even counting the certifications, just the amount of knowledge you learn here,” says Sawyer. “I really didn’t know what I wanted to do until AmTech.”
Garrett’s story is a little different. He has known what he wanted to do for most of his life. The puzzle has been in finding the right opportunities to make it happen. Garrett has early memories of standing in the backyard and staring at the sky. That innate curiosity ignited a passion not just for astronomy, but for physics.
“Physics is the backbone of astronomy and the backbone of most natural sciences and that’s why I always wanted to break it down and learn about the most basic science, which is physics,” he says.
While Garrett has been contemplating the literal limitations of the sky for as long as he can remember, his parents instilled in Garrett a belief that there are no proverbial limits for him.
“I was one of those kids whose parents would tell them from the advent that they could do whatever they wanted,” says Garrett.
After spending his middle school years in private school, Garrett knew he needed to maximize his opportunities in high school. That meant returning to public school and specifically, Amarillo High, with its exclusive International Baccalaureate Diploma program. No other school in the Panhandle offers the IB diploma, known for its rigorous, high-level academic research expectations. The IB diploma can make a student especially attractive to highly selective colleges like Swarthmore, with an acceptance rate of just 7 percent.
For Garrett, education has always been about opportunity. “When I’m trying to go to sleep, I’m usually thinking about things I could do going forward. The independence and opportunity of college makes me extremely excited to get going,” he says.
ZEKE RIDDLEY
SAWYER MCCASLIN
GARRETT SAIED
means more
DO MORE WITH EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITIES:
• ORCHESTRA BEGINNING IN 5TH GRADE
• DANCE
• SWIM
• JROTC
• AMTECH
AISD offers exclusive opportunities no one else can which means our students are doing things no one else is.
• ADVANCED ACADEMICS INCLUDING UT ONRAMPS
• SPECIALIZE DIPLOMAS LIKE IB AND AP CAPSTONE
• THRIVE SCHOLARSHIP
Affordable Early Education
Opportunity School has been providing high-quality, early childhood education for local families since 1969. That’s more than a half-century of giving at-risk children a solid foundation for learning before they enter the school system. But Executive Director Jill Goodrich still encounters people in the community who are surprised by what the organization offers.
“I’m always struck by people who say, ‘I didn’t realize all the services provided for young children and their families,’” Goodrich says with a smile. “We are one of the only nationally accredited early childhood education programs in our area and have reached more than 5,000 children since opening in 1969.”
The core of what Opportunity School provides is affordable education during the early years of a child’s life—from birth to 5— primarily to children from low-income families. But a few of the organization’s benefits are less familiar:
Early Intervention: Until children enter the classroom, their families often aren’t aware of developmental delays, learning disabilities or medical diagnoses that may be impacting a child’s ability to learn. The teachers and staff at Opportunity School are trained to watch for potential issues, under the supervision of a full-time intervention specialist. “Some kiddos struggle with communication or may not be as verbal as they should be for their age,” says Goodrich. “A new parent without a support system may not realize their child is delayed in that area, but those are things that can be super-important to address early.”
Providing early intervention and supporting families in the process is vital to Opportunity School’s work. For instance, the organization partners with the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at WTAMU to provide speech and language screenings and individualized therapy by the department’s interns. There is no additional cost for families to have these services. Opportunity School also helps connect families with occupational therapy and physical therapy services when there is a need. “The more we can do in the early years, then we can set that child and that family up for success in the future.”
School-Ready Focus: An evidence-based curriculum designed for the early years helps children develop foundations for reading literacy, math and even how to use the right muscle groups and more. Student assessments help teachers monitor progress and agerelated milestones. “We are very intentional about that. Children’s brains develop rapidly during these years—80 percent of the brain is “wired” by the age of 3—so what they learn in preschool impacts them for years to come, explains Goodrich. “We start early so they get on the right pathway. They will be better prepared academically and socially as well.”
Professional Development: Many organizations continue to struggle in the current job market, and Goodrich admits it can be
hard to find qualified early childhood educators. But Opportunity School isn’t just looking for warm bodies to babysit toddlers. “We are looking for educators who connect with our mission, and if they don’t have experience in the field, are willing to learn,” she says. “Our professional development program is very specific to this age group and focused on developmentally appropriate practices.”
Many staff members at Opportunity School are beginning educational careers and value the training they receive. “Our vision is that all young children receive the best start to their development and education, and we’d love to see a quality focus across the Panhandle for our youngest learners,” says Goodrich.
As a nonprofit that depends on donated funds, Opportunity School is always careful with how it spends money. But Goodrich views professional development as one of the most important expenditures in her program’s budget. “We are growing, but not at the expense of quality, so professional development throughout our team helps us maintain a high-quality program,” she says.
Social & Emotional Problem-Solving: Many parents think the most important things children learn in preschool are basics like shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet. Those are facts and figures—the so-called “hard skills.” But Goodrich says soft skills may be even more important.
“You have to teach social and emotional skills just like you teach a child to tie her shoe or write his name,” she says. “We can’t just tell kids to ‘behave’ and expect them to know what that means or how to do it. So we focus on teaching a very broad set of social skills.”
For instance, many kids haven’t learned how to handle intense emotions like sadness or anger. “Kids need support when they have big feelings, to know they are safe, and that their teachers and parents will help them learn the skills to keep themselves and others safe when they have those big feelings,” she says. “That’s what gives them the confidence to stand up to a bully in middle school or, in third grade, to tell someone ‘I don’t like you pulling my hair.’ We all need those skills in every walk of life.”
Opportunity School has been able to build brains for more than five decades because of generous support from individuals and corporations throughout the community who recognize the difference Opportunity School is making in the lives of local children and their families. “You won’t see children using iPads because we know that young children need face-to-face interactions from caring adults to optimize a child’s development in the early years,” Goodrich says. “We are a high-quality program that prepares young kids for school, while supporting parents who need to be at work.”
To learn more or if you would like to make a donation or leave a legacy for generations to come, visit opportunityschool.com. An investment in our children is an investment in the future of our community.
Texas Tech Physicians Pediatrics: Expert Care from Birth to Adulthood
The team of pediatric providers at Texas Tech Physicians Pediatrics combine expert-driven care with the convenience of hometown service in the heart of Amarillo. These services always become necessary at the start of a school year, including vaccine schedules for young patients and annual sports physicals for older athletes. Texas Tech Physicians providers offer age-appropriate primary and specialty services to meet physical and mental needs and help kids grow happy and healthy.
“Selecting a pediatrician is not like selecting a pair of shoes,” says Anders Leverton, M.D., a Texas Tech Physicians pediatrician. “When choosing a pediatrician, you are choosing someone to not only provide medical resources for your child, but to become part of their life and essentially part of the family. We will provide care for each child for 20 years. It’s important to make sure the pediatrician can fit into and understand the family’s culture as well as continue to supply up-to-date medical education along that journey.”
Choosing a provider for a child can be daunting. There are many things to consider, like training, experience, office location and hours of operation. It’s often a good idea to meet with a couple of providers before you settle on your choice. Ask about the provider’s training and experience. Do they have a specialty or area of interest? Are they board-certified? Ask about the provider’s opinion on immunizations and the use of medication. This includes antibiotics and over-thecounter medicines. Will they prescribe medication over the phone? Will your child see the same provider for all visits? What happens if your child gets sick during the night or on weekends? As you talk with the provider and the office staff, you’ll get a sense of whether they have the same philosophy as you do.
“At Texas Tech Physicians Pediatrics, we offer free prenatal visits for expecting parents,” Leverton says. “This is a great time to ask these questions. We think it’s very important to establish this relationship during pregnancy so that the transition of care is seamless once your baby is born. We suggest making that prenatal visit during the third trimester.”
Once the baby is born, routine visits to the pediatrician begin, and part of those visits include vaccinations. For new parents, though, the routine vaccine schedule can be heavy. There are many shots, and they happen very early on in a child’s life. That’s why it’s important to have an open dialogue with a pediatrician about this part of a child’s health care journey.
“Routine vaccines prevent disease,” says Shannon Herrick, M.D., a Texas Tech Physicians pediatrician. “The diseases that childhood vaccines prevent can harm a child. In developing countries, children continue to be severely impacted by diseases like measles, whooping cough and pneumonia. Vaccines in this country help protect children from these illnesses.”
The first Hepatitis B vaccine is usually given in the hospital right after the baby is born. Multiple vaccines are given at the 2-, 4- and 6-month-old well-child visits.
“There are now combination vaccines that help reduce the number of shots an infant is getting when receiving their vaccines,” Herrick says. “Although there are multiple vaccines in each shot, children do well with them.”
Some parents want to stretch out that schedule— giving one shot at a time, but Herrick advises against that.
“Stretching out the schedule to give one shot at a time just gives children more shots over time. This may increase the anxiety level and pain associated with vaccines,” she says. “Delaying vaccines also reduces the immunity to certain diseases at peak times when children get these diseases.”
Another subset of vaccines is given at the 1-year, 15-month and 18-month-old well-child visits. Many series of vaccines are also completed at the 4-year well-child visit. When a child turns 11, a new subset of vaccines is given to add protection in the adolescent years.
Herrick says the Centers for Disease Control website is a great resource for parents on all of the vaccines their child needs to receive. The website discusses each vaccine, the disease it prevents and any side effects. The American Academy of Pediatrics website and its Healthy Children website are additional resources for parents to get information on these vaccines.
Outside of keeping up with a child’s vaccine schedule, Herrick advises that annual well-child visits should occur starting at age 5. During these visits, a pediatrician measures growth and development and examines social behaviors and learning. These regular visits provide an opportunity to foster the relationship between the pediatrician, the parent and the child.
“Make a list of topics you want to talk about with your child’s pediatrician such as development, behavior, sleep, eating or getting along with other family members,” Herrick says. “Bring your top three to five questions or concerns with you to talk with your pediatrician at the start of the visit.”
As a child gets older, pediatricians encourage an annual sports physical whether or not one is required for them to participate on a team or extracurricular activity. This can be scheduled at the same time as a well-child exam. The sports physical is an opportunity to address exercise-specific issues, including injuries, nutrition, training and exercise programs, and even attitudes toward sports participation. Your pediatrician can also advise your child if he or she is already involved in an exercise and training program; overuse and overtraining injuries can be a problem for young people.
When you have a long-term history with your pediatrician, it allows him or her the opportunity to follow your child’s progress and development over time. This helps detect emerging problems, as well as stay informed on any new details of the patient’s history like past illnesses or injuries and immunization records. If specialty care needs to be investigated, it’s advantageous to have a pediatrician at an academic medicine institution like Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
Because Texas Tech Physicians pediatricians are also leading educators and researchers at TTUHSC in Amarillo, they have some of the most specialized pediatric doctors in the region. From pediatric oncology to cardiology and nephrology, children have access to expert-driven care without having to leave home.
To learn more about Texas Tech Physicians Pediatrics, visit TexasTechPhysicians.com or call 806.414.9090
Average Debt of WT Graduates Drops 23 Percent Over Seven-Year Period
The average debt for West Texas A&M University graduates has dropped 23 percent over the past seven years, according to a new study. The debt load also is significantly lower than national and statewide averages.
The average debt load for 2023 graduates was $20,655 among students who took out loans, according to data compiled by WT’s Office of Student Financial Services for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Accountability System. According to Forbes, the average student loan debt is $28,950 nationwide and $32,295 in Texas.
“It has been my mission to reduce over-indebtedness levels among our students,” WT President Walter V. Wendler says. “WT’s comprehensive approach to financial aid, personalized counseling and career support services is designed to ensure our graduates are financially secure.
“I am pleased to see we are making a real impact through our commitment to providing our students with affordable, high-quality education while minimizing financial burdens.”
Lowering the debt load faced by WT graduates ultimately benefits the Panhandle-area workforce. According to a 2019 economic impact report, 60 percent of WT graduates remain in the Texas Panhandle, where a college graduate is expected to earn $27,200 more each year over an employee with only a high school education. That’s $1.1 million in lifetime earnings, and $2.3 billion in lifetime added income for all WT area alumni. The sooner graduates can escape debt repayment, the sooner they can make a larger economic impact on their home region.
WT’s efforts include expanding scholarship opportunities, offering personalized financial literacy offerings, and enhancing career support services. These measures have contributed to the significant reduction in student debt, underscoring the University’s dedication to financial responsibility and student success.
By providing high-quality, cost-effective education and supporting students with targeted financial initiatives, WT is setting a new standard in higher education affordability.
A key new initiative in that effort is a no-cost-to-students textbook plan. In May, WT announced a deal with publishers Cengage and McGraw Hill that will provide students digital textbooks and ancillary materials, including digital learning platforms, mobile apps and more.
The University is committing “significant time and energy” to provide textbooks, Wendler says, fulfilling his pledge made in January. Wendler’s pledge was to provide textbooks for core courses at no cost for students; the final deal also allows faculty and students to take advantage of high-quality, no-cost-to-student resources in all WT classes.
Students will not be assessed additional fees for the service. Ultimately, the plan should offer a net savings of nearly $5 million a year for students, further lowering that average debt load held by students who took out loans.
Cengage’s license allows faculty members to curate content from
multiple texts for use in their courses with no additional costs to students. Print textbooks also will be available to rent or purchase by students, if they wish.
Among the McGraw Hill benefits provided through the partnership with WT are mobile apps allowing students and faculty to access ebooks offline, the Sharpen study app for students, and more.
Other initiatives also include the Education Credit Union Buff $mart program, which offers financial literacy education; the WT Office of Career and Professional Development, which supports both students and alumni; and more.
“This approach not only benefits students and their families, but also strengthens the University’s role in fostering a prosperous and educated community,” says Dr. Neil Terry, provost and executive vice president of academic affairs. “While maintaining a focus on reducing debt, WT also is committed to providing high-quality educational experiences in and out of the classroom, both for in-person and online students.”
Some of the key principles of the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World are a call for innovation and a focus on regional impact.
Those both can be seen in the recent addition of new academic programs: A new Master of Science in Strategic Human Resource Management Program and a new Bachelor of Science In Hospitality and Tourism Management, both in the Paul and Virginia Engler College of Business; and a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Degree Program in the Laura and Joe Street School of Nursing in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences.
Even more innovation is visible in WT’s plan for embedded associate degrees. The plan would give students a recognized milestone or stop-out point in case life events require them to pause their education. Students would not enroll in an associate degree program, so the plan is not meant to compete with community colleges. Rather, the degree will be automatically awarded to them once they meet certain academic requirements.
Additionally, one of the primary goals of the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign is to raise funds for scholarship endowments. Currently, the campaign has raised nearly $160 million, including about $20 million for scholarships.
“Affordability is WT’s commitment to building strong communities,” says Dr. Todd Rasberry, vice president for philanthropy and external relations. “Students who graduate with less debt have more freedom in selecting jobs and careers in the towns and cities in which they want to live, work and serve.”
WT offers merit scholarships based on students’ high school achievements; automatic scholarships for transfer students; multiple University scholarships; and other financial aid, including the Buff Promise, which covers in-state tuition and fees for full-time undergraduate Texas residents who have an annual family income of $80,000 or less.
