The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

‘Promises’ flood incoming A&M-San Antonio students, offer access and ‘last dollar’ aid

‘Promises’ flood incoming A&M-San Antonio students, offer access and ‘last dollar’ aid - The Mesquite Online News - Texas A&M University-San Antonio

Alamo Colleges District Main Office displays the flag colors of the five Alamo Colleges in the main entrance. Photo by Samuel Rocha

Alamo Colleges announced a new collaboration with Texas A&M University-San Antonio in hopes to unite their shared goal of providing aid for undergraduate students by creating the Promise-to-Promise program.

The Promise-to-Promise program houses both the Jaguar Promise and AlamoPROMISE, though all three promises are different. This partnership will allow students to obtain their bachelor’s degree sooner and reduce financial burden.

 

Promise-to-Promise for Alamo College students transferring to A&M-San Antonio

 

The Promise-to-Promise partnership covers educational costs for eligible students who start at any of the Alamo Colleges District’s five colleges. Students can then transfer to A&M-San Antonio to complete a four year degree.

“Through Promise-to-Promise we are continuing our shared goal to help thousands of students save money and reduce the time to complete it,” Clint Kingsbery, Chair of the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees and Assistant Director of testing and TSI at A&M-San Antonio, said in a public announcement.

The Promise-to-Promise partnership was created this summer and will take effect in fall 2025.

“We had some transfer students in fall of 2024 from Alamo [colleges] participate in the Jaguar Promise, so there’s that component of it that was able to be streamlined and impactful for fall of 2024,” Brandy McLelland, Vice President of Enrollment Management, said. “The overall and entirety [of Promise-to-Promise] — the implementation will be done in 2025.”

Both the Jaguar Promise and Promise-to-Promise are “last-dollar” scholarships, meaning they take effect after financial aid and other scholarships have been applied to a student’s bill. Students who qualify are awarded funds for their tuition, required fees and textbooks. 

Dr. Mike Flores, the Alamo Colleges District Chancellor, said the program eases and shortens the college path for highschool students who take dual enrollment classes and earn an associate’s degree from an early college high school. 

“What we call a seamless three tier transfer program for highschool students who are completing dual enrollment earning an associate’s degree from one of our early colleges, then transferring to A&M San Antonio for a bachelor’s degree, so they would probably be about 20 years old,” Dr. Mike Flores, Chancellor of Alamo Colleges District said. 

 

Jaguar Promise for A&M-San Antonio students only

 

McLelland said that the Jaguar Promise program is accessible to both early college high school students and transfer students who plan to enroll at A&M-San Antonio.

Eligibility for the Jaguar Promise includes first-year students in an early college high school who are in the top 10% of their class with 30 or more credits and students in the top 35% with an income of $70,000 or less.

During the transfer to A&M-San Antonio, the Jaguar Promise provides payment for residual fees throughout the rest of the semester for any bachelor’s degree of the student’s choosing.  

McLelland described the Promise-to-Promise partnership as the “bigger umbrella” covering the Jaguar Promise. 

“The Jaguar Promise allows us to sync those things up and because we rolled that out a little earlier, it gets synced up in that bigger umbrella for fall 2025,” she said.

 

AlamoPROMISE for Bexar County students attending Alamo Colleges

 

The AlamoPROMISE provides graduating seniors in Bexar County with the chance to pursue higher education without the financial burden — similar to the Jaguar Promise.  

Students who qualify for the AlamoPROMISE must be a recent highschool graduate and have a minimum grade point average of 2.0.  

Highschool seniors must enroll for the fall semester at one of the Alamo Colleges after high school graduation.

After acquiring an associate degree with the help of AlamoPROMISE, students have the opportunity to finish their bachelor’s degree at A&M-San Antonio, which is where the Promise-to-Promise program comes in.

Students who are interested must be a resident of Texas and are required to be enrolled full time at any of the respected Alamo Colleges before continuing education at A&M-San Antonio. 

For more information about the Promise-to-Promise scholarship program contact 210-784-1300 for enrollment services or email BeAJaguar@tamusa.edu

 

Alamo Colleges announced a new collaboration with Texas A&M University-San Antonio in hopes to unite their shared goal of providing aid for undergraduate students by creating the Promise-to-Promise program.

The Promise-to-Promise program houses both the Jaguar Promise and AlamoPROMISE, though all three promises are different. This partnership will allow students to obtain their bachelor’s degree sooner and reduce financial burden.

 

Promise-to-Promise for Alamo College students transferring to A&M-San Antonio

 

The Promise-to-Promise partnership covers educational costs for eligible students who start at any of the Alamo Colleges District’s five colleges. Students can then transfer to A&M-San Antonio to complete a four year degree.

“Through Promise-to-Promise we are continuing our shared goal to help thousands of students save money and reduce the time to complete it,” Clint Kingsbery, Chair of the Alamo Colleges Board of Trustees and Assistant Director of testing and TSI at A&M-San Antonio, said in a public announcement.

The Promise-to-Promise partnership was created this summer and will take effect in fall 2025.

“We had some transfer students in fall of 2024 from Alamo [colleges] participate in the Jaguar Promise, so there’s that component of it that was able to be streamlined and impactful for fall of 2024,” Brandy McLelland, Vice President of Enrollment Management, said. “The overall and entirety [of Promise-to-Promise] — the implementation will be done in 2025.”

Both the Jaguar Promise and Promise-to-Promise are “last-dollar” scholarships, meaning they take effect after financial aid and other scholarships have been applied to a student’s bill. Students who qualify are awarded funds for their tuition, required fees and textbooks. 

Dr. Mike Flores, the Alamo Colleges District Chancellor, said the program eases and shortens the college path for highschool students who take dual enrollment classes and earn an associate’s degree from an early college high school. 

“What we call a seamless three tier transfer program for highschool students who are completing dual enrollment earning an associate’s degree from one of our early colleges, then transferring to A&M San Antonio for a bachelor’s degree, so they would probably be about 20 years old,” Dr. Mike Flores, Chancellor of Alamo Colleges District said. 

 

Jaguar Promise for A&M-San Antonio students only

 

McLelland said that the Jaguar Promise program is accessible to both early college high school students and transfer students who plan to enroll at A&M-San Antonio.

Eligibility for the Jaguar Promise includes first-year students in an early college high school who are in the top 10% of their class with 30 or more credits and students in the top 35% with an income of $70,000 or less.

During the transfer to A&M-San Antonio, the Jaguar Promise provides payment for residual fees throughout the rest of the semester for any bachelor’s degree of the student’s choosing.  

McLelland described the Promise-to-Promise partnership as the “bigger umbrella” covering the Jaguar Promise. 

“The Jaguar Promise allows us to sync those things up and because we rolled that out a little earlier, it gets synced up in that bigger umbrella for fall 2025,” she said.

 

AlamoPROMISE for Bexar County students attending Alamo Colleges

 

The AlamoPROMISE provides graduating seniors in Bexar County with the chance to pursue higher education without the financial burden — similar to the Jaguar Promise.  

Students who qualify for the AlamoPROMISE must be a recent highschool graduate and have a minimum grade point average of 2.0.  

Highschool seniors must enroll for the fall semester at one of the Alamo Colleges after high school graduation.

After acquiring an associate degree with the help of AlamoPROMISE, students have the opportunity to finish their bachelor’s degree at A&M-San Antonio, which is where the Promise-to-Promise program comes in.

Students who are interested must be a resident of Texas and are required to be enrolled full time at any of the respected Alamo Colleges before continuing education at A&M-San Antonio. 

For more information about the Promise-to-Promise scholarship program contact 210-784-1300 for enrollment services or email BeAJaguar@tamusa.edu

 

About the Authors

Victoria Arredondo
Assistant Editor
Victoria Arredondo is a senior at Texas A&M University-San Antonio majoring in English and communications and minoring in psychology. Victoria received her associate degree from Palo Alto College along with her high school diploma in 2018 from Frank L. Madla Early College High School. In her downtime, Victoria enjoys reading, writing poetry and short stories, watching horror movies and spending time with friends. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a career in journalism.
Beatriz Pizarro
Beatriz Pizarro is a communications sophomore at Texas A&M University-San Antonio. She transferred from Houston Community College. In her spare time, she like sketching and hanging out with friends. Other times, she is studying, cooking or listening to music. She enjoys fashion and hopes to become a fashion journalist.

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