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South Texas College’s Valley Promise Program, a last-dollar initiative providing graduating high school seniors with a tuition-free education toward an associate’s degree, has more than 1,100 students participating in the first year.
The program’s first year offered eligible graduating high school seniors from 52 participating schools in Hidalgo and Starr counties the last-dollar, tuition-free scholarship covering any tuition and fees after financial aid and other scholarships are applied.
The program also offers staff to help students navigate their college journey.
STC Vice President of Institutional Advancement and Economic Development Rodney Rodriguez broke down the details of the program when it was announced in April.
“This is the dynamic and innovative way that South Texas College wants to help students go the extra mile,” Rodriguez said. “Not only give them financial aid but we know that there’s other costs associated with higher education and with inflation and everything that we’re faced with at this point in time.
“If we can make it easier for our students to be able to achieve a higher education, then we will do what we need to do to help make that happen.”
According to a news release, at least $1 million has been invested into creating the program with funding coming from the Greater Texas Foundation, Ascendium, Rio-South Texas Education and Community Development Foundation, Educate Texas and Economic Mobility Systems.
Currently, a total of 1,143 students took the program’s pledge for this upcoming school year.
Rodriguez said the college’s initial goal with the program was for 250 students to participate.
“It’s been almost five times as much as we anticipated to enroll,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a great outcome but we are working diligently with everyone who filled out the pledge to see how we can help them.”
The students range from 46 different schools in Hidalgo and Starr county and from 19 different school districts. La Joya ISD has the most students attending STC under the program with 225 students.
Asked how much on average each student needs for tuition and fees after financial aid and other scholarships, Rodriguez said it is a case by case basis depending on student needs.
“It ranges anywhere from $1,000 to $1,500 … I would say an average, it would probably be $1,000 per student,” he said. “That’s for two semesters, in the fall and the spring.”
He added next year STC will have a better idea of what the student population needs and how the program can be adjusted to help students even more.
The program exceeding its goal in its first year has garnered the development of including adults in the program for academic year 2025-26.
“It’s the same concept, but these would be adult learners,” Rodriguez said. “This is in the works, we’re planning it. These are individuals that are maybe over the age of 23 that maybe didn’t finish their associates or what have you.”
Encouraging adults that want to come back to school, the same principles would be applied as a last-dollar incentive after exploring all options for financial aid.
“We have a large adult population here in the Rio Grande Valley, that for whatever reason, they weren’t able to finish their higher education,” he said. Be it an associate’s, a bachelor’s, you name it, because life happens. What we would love to do is call back these individuals, recruit them, and let them know that maybe they’re only six hours away or 12 hours away, and we can help them to achieve that.”
The program will help provide opportunities for adults to finish their degree and also to reskill, upskill their current careers. Anticipating a large participation in the program with an expansion to include adults, the Valley Promise program’s initial aim to provide all Valley students a tuition-free education in the span of five years is heading toward the right direction.
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