Ashley Miller
Assistant editor
In its second year, Buff Promise still holds true to its assurance.
Buff Promise is a guaranteed tuition program designed to help academically talented students from low to middle class families.
“It reassures students that they too can receive a higher education degree,” Shawn Thomas, director of admissions, said. “It lets them know that there are resources and opportunities for them and puts it into a format that they can understand.”
This program is set up for new students entering the University in the fall, but current students still receive the benefits of Buff Promise.
Last fall, 340 were fitted for this program and roughly 35 percent received benefits from Buff Promise.
To qualify for Buff Promise you have to be a Texas resident and must have an annual family income of $40,000 or less.
Buff Promise also expands on the University’s vigorous aid program that awards more than $36 million in assistance.
“It has had an impact in enrollment and knowing that we affected this number of students is significant,” Thomas said. “The real benefit is for the students.”
A reward letter is sent out to those students who receive the Buff Promise.
This year, Buff Promise is adding a new touch to its program.
The program wants to make sure that all students receiving the benefits of Buff Promise know that they truly are.
“A lot of students were disheartened,” Thomas said. “The current students that receive the benefits of this program just didn’t realize it.”
Every year, WT students must re-enroll and stay in good academic standing to keep receiving the benefits of Buff Promise.
Students who do not meet the qualifications of Buff Promise can still qualify for other grant and scholarship programs through the University.
“Its hard to measure how this program has helped students,” Thomas said. “I believe we’ve probably enrolled students that perhaps we wouldn’t have without Buff Promise.”