The University of Houston-Victoria is making a pledge to its new Texas freshmen and sophomores coming to the university from outside the Victoria region in the fall.

The university will provide them with a package of scholarships, grants and employment opportunities that will cover at least 50 percent of their tuition and fees their first year through the new Jaguar Pledge program announced Wednesday. Students must take face-to-face, freshman- or sophomore-level classes at the Victoria campus in order to qualify.

“These are difficult economic times, and we want everyone who has a dream of obtaining a higher education to be able to achieve it,” UHV President Tim Hudson said. “Our new Jaguar Pledge program will make this easier for our FIRST 200 underclassmen.”

A combination of scholarships, including money raised through the Campaign Victoria initiative; federal, state and institutional grants; and on- and off-campus employment opportunities will be used to assist the new underclassmen, said Wayne Beran, UHV vice president for administration and finance. Students will have a choice to accept all or some of the pledge components.

“We want all of these underclassmen to benefit from Campaign Victoria, a community effort to help attract freshmen and sophomores living outside our region to UHV,” he said. “This initiative supports economic growth and better access to education in our region.”

For example, families can save at least $2,800 off the total cost of $5,600 in tuition and fees through the Jaguar Pledge program if their student is an in-state underclassmen living outside the region who takes a full load of 15 UHV credit hours each semester during the 2010-11 school year, Beran said.

“The Jaguar Pledge will be a wonderful opportunity for Texas students and will help the state with its Closing the Gaps initiative to increase the educational attainment levels of its citizens,” state Rep. Geanie Morrison said.

Incoming freshmen and sophomores will need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and the UHV Scholarship Application to apply for the Jaguar Pledge program. They also must take a minimum of six UHV hours each semester and maintain good academic standing to qualify.

“We’ll work with our new freshmen and sophomores to make sure they get the help they need to become UHV students and are aware of this wonderful new opportunity,” said Denee Thomas, director of Letting Education Achieve Dreams and Student Recruitment. 

The announcement of the Jaguar Pledge program comes after UHV unveiled in July the first three-year bachelor’s degree offered by a Texas public university. The Degree in Three, or Dn3 program, allows students to save time and money by earning a bachelor’s degree in select subjects in just three years. UHV already ranks the second most affordable Texas public university when compared with universities that have the same classification, according to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board fall 2009 data.  

For more information about the Jaguar Pledge or Dn3 programs, or underclassmen application to UHV, call the LEAD and Student Recruitment office at 361-570-4149 or toll free at 1-877-970-4848, ext. 149, or go to www.uhvfirst200.com.