U.T. System Launches Innovative Financial Aid and Admissions Resource
By Matt Orem, Project Manager, TexasCollegeMoney

The University of Texas System has launched TexasCollegeMoney, a new free service that informs students and parents that college is possible and within their reach, and that financial support is available. The Web site encourages Texas high school juniors to attend college by providing personal and specific financial aid information for all nine UT academic campuses.

"This innovative project will enable more students to attend our universities by providing early concrete financial aid information to their families," said UT System Chancellor Mark G. Yudof.

"We hope that over time TexasCollegeMoney will help increase college enrollment and reverse the perception that college is out of reach," said Larry Burt, director of the Student Financial Services Office at The University of Texas at Austin, which will administer the project. "By providing an accurate estimate of financial aid as well as detailing the costs of education to students early in their junior year of high school, we give confidence to families that college is possible and support is available."

The U.S. Department of Education report, "Getting Ready to Pay for College," shows that many parents and students overestimate college costs. The report concludes, "Media attention on rising college costs, combined with a general lack of knowledge about the affordability of many colleges, may unnecessarily discourage some students and parents from preparing for college."

"This is the single most important issue regarding access to higher education," Burt said.

"Nationwide studies have shown that the families who need financial aid the most are also those who are most likely to overestimate the cost of a college education and to not know about financial aid eligibility. This is particularly true of the state of Texas where we have a young population that frequently comes from needy families."

In response, the initial focus of TexasCollegeMoney will be on high school juniors at 130 Texas public schools identified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and The University of Texas at Austin Office of Student Financial Services as having a low college attendance rate and high financial need.

Through the Web site, TexasCollegeMoney.org, students and parents will get a realistic estimate of the financial aid awards they can expect to receive at any University of Texas System campus.

"We will also follow up with students individually," said Matt Orem, TexasCollegeMoney project manager. TexasCollegeMoney is designed as a suite of Internet and human services that will make and keep contact with students and their families to provide both the information and personal assistance students need to make the transition from high school to college."

Financial aid and admissions professionals from the UT system campuses will make direct contact with students. And, in March, students using the Web site will have a chance to win a scholarship to use when they enroll at a UT campus.

"There is no other financial aid award calculator that I am aware of that can provide information about an entire university system," Burt said. "And, the fact that we contact students early, in their junior year, to provide individual attention, will, I believe, increase enrollment from the selected high schools and help close the gaps in higher education enrollment."

For more information about TexasCollegeMoney, visit the Web site www.texascollegemoney.org.