Dell Foundation gives $100 million for scholarships for UT-Austin’s low-income students


Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The Dell Foundation promises to give $100 million over the course of 10 years to fund new scholarships and support services for low-income students who qualify for federal Pell Grants at the University of Texas at Austin.



Starting in the fall, low-income students at the University of Texas at Austin will have access to scholarships and resources thanks to a new partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. 

This foundation will give Texas’ flagship university $100 million over 10 years to provide funding for new scholarships and support services for students who qualify for Pell Grants, a federal subsidy given to first-time undergraduate students who display exceptional financial need. More than two-thirds of Pell Grant recipients come from families with an annual income of $30,000 or less. 

On Friday when the gift was unveiled, university President Greg Fenves said the partnership will reinforce the school’s “commitment to students and their families by providing personally tailored support services to thousands of UT-Austin students along with life-changing scholarship for those in the most financial need.”

This partnership hopes to raise graduate rates among these students. It is modeled after the Dell Scholars program, which offers qualifying Pell-eligible students across the country a $20,000 scholarship along with a laptop and support services. 

Two-thirds of UT’s Pell-eligible freshmen, an estimated 1,200 students, with the most financial need will definitely become part of the Dell Scholars program each fall, said UT spokesman J.B. Bird.

The $20,000 scholarship can go toward class materials, housing, living expenses and other costs. The university’s Texas Advance Commitment program. This program guarantees free tuition for Texas students from families with incomes of $65,000 or less, will cover the tuition of Texas freshmen.

All of UT’s Pell-eligible students will have access to a laptop and ongoing, individualized support from a special program called “UT for Me – Powered by Dell Scholars.” 

UT for Me – Powered by Dell Scholars will include:
  • financial aid coaching and financial literacy training
  • graduation and career planning
  • peer advising and tutoring
  • textbook support

Pell Grant Students

Enrollment of Pell recipients at UT has ranged from 8,000 students to nearly 11,000 between 2008 and 2018. This makes up roughly a quarter of the undergraduate student body, according to university data. 

Let’s take a quick look at last fall’s numbers.
21.3% of UT’s 40,163 undergraduates received Pell Grants.
  • 46.2% Hispanic or Latinx
  • 22.2% Asian
  • 9.8% African American
“Many of these kids are first-generation college students. Their families are unfamiliar with how to navigate the landscape of upper education,” shared Susan Dell, co-founder and chairman of the board of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. 

The goal of this support program is to address the “systemic and individual issues” that can keep low-income students away from completing their college bachelor’s degree, according to UT. Only 1 in 5 students from low-income background graduates from college in six years across the country, according to UT.

For these low-income and first-generation students, personal or academic challenges can often feel impossible, according to Janet Mountain, executive director of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. 

“What these students need is more than a check. They need support," Mountain said.

Ashley Faz, a freshman from Weslaco, said she considered transferring out of UT because she struggled to find friends until she found a community in the Dell Scholars program.

It appears that the Dell Scholars program may provide students not only with financial aid but also a community in which they can belong and build sustainable relationships with others.

Faz shared that it helped her stay on top of her studies.

“Because of the scholarship I didn’t have to take a job, so I could just focus on my studies, which is a big weight lifted off my shoulders. I already feel so busy just with school and clubs, so if I had a job, I don’t think I could be maintaining a good GPA.”

Adriant Bereal of Waco, a senior design student at UT, says the program has been incredibly essential to helping him stay on track to graduate this spring.

He says the program’s staff has always been available to talk when he needed help.

“I can pick up my phone and call, and I know someone is going to answer the phone,” said Bereal.

Raising graduation rates 

The Dell Scholars program has served more than 4,8000 students since launching 2004, and 4 out of 5 of its scholars graduate in six years. Through its partnership with the foundation, UT Austin hopes to raise its six-year graduation rates among Pell-eligible students from 73% to 90%. Currently, 86% of the university’s undergraduate students earn their bachelor’s degrees in six years.

Getting students to finish their degrees is key to the state’s future. 

Michael Dell, Austin-based tech CEO, stated, “It puts these young people on a totally different life trajectory and that relates to their health, their well-being, their opportunity to participate in the community, to build families,” he said. “All this is incredibly important for not only the students but also for our communities and for Texas.”

In a country where the student debt crisis graces the headlines daily, the topic of financial aid is incredibly important. Several have tried to come up with solutions, such as new types of financial loans, to making financial aid more accessible for students, particularly for low-income undergraduate students. Some have come up with ideas for free college but acknowledge there are several barriers and challenges to this.  

College and undergraduate student applicants and concurrent students desire to pursue their higher education goals by completing a bachelor’s degree at one of the many top colleges and universities within the U.S. This can be made complicated by financial need. According to College Board, published tuition fees for 2018/19 at state colleges were an average of $10,230 for state residents and $26,290 for non-state residents who want to earn their bachelor’s degrees. There was also an average of $35,930 at private non-profit colleges. Financial aid helps make earning a bachelor’s degree through an undergraduate education program more accessible for students with lower incomes.




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