Birds up!

UT San Antonio offering free tuition to families making less than $50,500

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UTSA will begin offering free tuition next fall.

University of Texas at San Antonio/Facebook

The University of Texas at San Antonio is making a bold promise to its students: free tuition. On December 12, the university, part of the University of Texas System, announced it is implementing free tuition and fees for qualifying students beginning next fall.

In a release, UTSA detailed the new Bold Promise Program — a program the school believes will increase access to higher education for San Antonio residents. Bold Promise is open to incoming freshmen whose families make up to $50,500 — the median income in San Antonio. Currently, in-state tuition for on-campus students is about $25,000.

Students must also be a Texas resident, ranked in the top 25 percent of their high school class, have graduated within the last 16 months, and be making their initial enrollment into college. The university estimates that 4,100 newly admitted freshmen should qualify next year.

“UTSA was founded 50 years ago on the belief that San Antonians deserve access to high-quality education and opportunities," said university president Taylor Eighmy in a release. "Today, with the launch of UTSA Bold Promise, we are reaffirming that commitment and creating a pathway for students from all across the state to pursue higher education and build prosperity for themselves and their families.”

Tuition funding will come from $41 million in aid along with support from existing federal and state programs. "UTSA’s total aid and scholarship disbursement for fall 2020 will top more than $292 million to enable college going for those in financial need," the school said.

UTSA's news comes five months after the University of Texas at Austin announced a similar program in July. The system's flagship university covers in-state tuition and fees for students of families making $65,000 or less.

Those admitted to join UTSA's freshmen 2020 class can find out if they qualify for the Bold Promise program by submitting a FAFSA/TASFA application by the priority deadline of Wednesday, January 15, 2020.

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share the road

Texas is one of the worst places in the nation to ride a bike

Photo by Danist Soh on Unsplash

If you've ridden your bicycle in San Antonio, you already know how true this is.

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around San Antonio, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

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