TEXAS – The OneStar Foundation, a nonprofit organization has allocated more than $900,000 for the 2022-2023 academic year from AmeriCorps operations at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).
AmeriCorps at UTRGV assists students with the college enrollment process, including admissions, testing, financial aid application (FAFSA), orientation, registration and more. It also facilitates parent workshops and serves as a liaison for students’ college application process.
The agency began operations in 2009 at the UT Brownsville legacy institution, now hires 45 UTRGV students each semester at each campus (Brownsville and Edinburg), for a total of 180 per academic year.
The goal is to help graduating juniors and seniors in the area pursue a college career. Students have a two-year participation cap.
AmeriCorps members serve more than 4,500 high school seniors each academic year by answering questions and guiding students with all college enrollment requirements, and the group engages more than 80,000 Americans in intensive service each year.
The program in the Valley currently serves San Benito CISD, Brownsville ISD, McAllen ISD and Edinburg CISD, and has added Los Fresnos CISD in the 2022 – 2023 school year.
“One of the main benefits of the program is that we are promoting higher education in the high schools we serve throughout the Valley,” said Ruth Torres, senior financial aid coordinator at UTRGV and senior program coordinator for AmeriCorps.
“We help UTRGV students by offering them a pathway to employment opportunities and helping them develop vital job skills. Then they turn around and help future students pursue their desired educational goals,” she added.
No related posts.
