A shortage of state money and rising tuition rates have led to stripping a Texas grant program of its $295 million in funds, leaving 23,000 college students to look elsewhere for financial help.
The Toward Excellence Access and Success, or TEXAS, grant program was set up in 1999 to help pay college tuition for needy students who take challenging classes in high school. The program has 56,000 students.
Ray Grasshoff, a spokesman for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which administers the grant program, said the average grant amount had shot up by $450, to $3,590 this year, because of rising tuition.
He said students are being encouraged to shift to another state program called B-on-Time, which gives the same amount of money as the TEXAS grants. But students who do not graduate from college with a B average must repay the money.
