Texas Southmost College students will have their unpaid balances from fall 2020 and spring 2021 forgiven with a TSC Clean Slate scholarship, thanks to a unanimous vote by the TSC Board of Trustees at their July 14 special meeting.
More than 800 TSC students are eligible for the scholarship that comes as additional assistance from the American Rescue Plan’s Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This aid complements the investments the Texas Southmost College Board of Trustees has authorized since spring 2020 as part of TSC’s Comprehensive Care Package.
Last year, during the height of the pandemic, students were awarded a $400 scholarship in spring 2020, were able to take advantage of TSC’s college-funded Take 6 On Us initiative, which waived tuition for six credit hours in summer 2020 and received a 20% tuition discount scholarship in fall 2020 and spring 2021.
“As a board, we voted to make a significant investment in students over the past year, especially during the height of the pandemic when many businesses were shut down,” said TSC Board Chair Ruben Herrera. “These initiatives reduced the debt students would have to take on to continue their studies.”
The Clean Slate scholarship now provides additional assistance for students who maxed out those subsidies. The scholarship will automatically be applied to those with an unpaid balance; there is no application required.
“We continue to pursue every opportunity to leverage federal grant dollars with funding the TSC Board of Trustees has allocated over the past year to support our communities in achieving their dream of a college education,” said TSC President Jesús Roberto Rodríguez, Ph.D. “We are looking forward to resuming in-person courses this fall, gathering the Scorpion family back together again, and the scholarship gives students the opportunity to begin the fall 2021 semester with a clean slate.”
Registration for fall 2021 is ongoing. Fall classes begin Aug. 23.