SAN ANTONIO — The University of Texas San Antonio on Monday announced a new $2.4 million grant that will help support first-generation Latino students over the next five years.
The initiative is made possible by a gift from the Hector and Gloria Lopez Foundation, and will provide full-ride scholarships to 15 recipients, including tuition, housing, study programs and paid internships.
"This grant will directly impact our students who are gaining the skills needed to build a talent pipeline that will grow the workforce for our city, region and state," UTSA President Taylor Eighmy is quoted as saying in a university release.
According to Excelencia In Education, a group that advocates for accelerated Latino success, 21% of Latino adults in Texas had earned an associate degree or higher in 2017-2018, compared to 47% of white adults in Texas.
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must be Latino, demonstrate a financial need, be the first member of their family to attend college, and have lived in or graduated from high school in El Paso, Austin, San Antonio, or a community in South Texas or the Rio Grand Valley.
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