UTA, Arlington ISD, partner to bring baccalaureate opportunity to ACHS

On June 5, Arlington Independent School District and the University of Texas at Arlington signed an agreement to add onto the current college-credit earning program offered at Arlington Collegiate High School, according to a news release.

As it stands, students enrolled at ACHS, located on the Tarrant County College’s Southeast Campus, can earn an associates degree from TCC Southeast by taking 60 hours of dual-credit coursework. With the new ACHS Lion Scholars Program, not only will students be able to earn their associate’s, but if they are within six credit hours of an associate’s degree they can begin taking courses towards their bachelor’s.

Additionally, AISD will be lifting the financial burden from the students’ shoulders by covering their UTA tuition at dual credit rates and paying for their textbooks and fees until they graduate from high school.

“UTA and AISD are breaking down barriers to a four-year university degree,” said state Rep. Chris Turner, D-Arlington, in a news release. “We need to see more partnerships like this, where highly ranked and nationally respected public institutions find innovative ways to make college degrees at the highest level of quality more accessible and more affordable.”

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As Lion Scholars Program graduates, the students will also be eligible, pending university review, for up to $10,000 of tuition assistance. UTA will also provide these students with peer mentors, transition advising, and a degree plan to assist students in mapping out their time and classes at the university, which will help to reduce the possibility of the students taking excess, unneeded credit hours and increasing their ultimate college cost.

At the signing, an initial group of ACHS students signed their commitment to earning their associate’s through TCC and continuing on to UTA for their bachelor’s.

“Being part of a family that came from little, it meant the world for me that I could have a shot at an advanced education without burdening my parents with the cost, said Elias Perez, a senior at Arlington Collegiate High School.”

This new partnership serves as a part of UTA’s Strategic Plan 2020 Bold Solutions | Global Impact, which involved community engagement and the transformation of the student experience.

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“Serving our local and global communities by providing the highest quality education at an affordable cost is at the very heart of our mission as the model 21st century urban research university,” said UTA President Dr. Vistasp Karbhari. “We are proud to partner with the Arlington Independent School District to establish the ACHS Lion Scholars Program, which offers a seamless path to a four-year degree to students who may not have dreamed a college education was obtainable. This partnership will provide the Arlington and Texas economies with highly-educated graduates who will be immediately employable.”