<p>The Texas Exes, the alumni association for The University of Texas at Austin, has announced the launch of a new scholarship program, The 40 Acres Scholars. The program will be the largest merit-based scholarship program on the UT Austin campus.</p>
<p>The 40 Acres Scholars Program will offer a comprehensive financial package to qualified undergraduate students. This package will include full four-year scholarships, including tuition, fees, books and living expenses; priority housing in honors residence halls; and funding for summer programs such as study abroad, public service, and internships.</p>
<p>This program will uniquely expand UTs role of changing people, who then change the world, by identifying top scholars with leadership potential and creating a student experience unlike any other on campus, said Jim Boon, executive director of the Texas Exes. </p>
<p>The goal of the 40 Acres Scholars Program is to build an endowment of $150 million. Income from the endowment will support up to 75 students each year and create over time a steady group of about 300 students, making it one of the largest merit-based scholarship programs in the country. It will be the first program of its kind on the UT Austin campus and will enable the University to compete with the nations best universities for top students. The Texas Exes Scholarship Foundation will manage the endowment and administer the program. The first scholarship will be awarded in 2011.</p>
<p>The current Texas Exes scholarship program has grown to become the largest in the nation among alumni associations, awarding more than $2 million each year to around 700 students. The scholarships have been established by alumni and alumni groups, including Texas Exes chapters, and other friends of the University.</p>
<p>Any one have any concrete information as to when and how it will be awarded? Will it be the same as many of the others, you just check it when you fill out the scholarship info?</p>
<p>There was an article on it in the recent Alcalde magazine that I think had a few more details on how the scholarship might work. I think that will be on line on the Texas Exes web site soon.</p>
<p>If you open up the UT Home Page
<a href=“http://www.utexas.edu/[/url]”>The University of Texas at Austin;
there is a link to the article about it that is posted at the start of this thread. As the article above and on the link says, the first 40 Acres scholarship will be awarded in 2011.</p>
<p>A woman I used to work with is one of the UT Development Officers who has been recruiting major donors to fund the endowment for this scholarship program. </p>
<p>Most of the major donors she approached remarked something to the effect of, “Yes, UT absolutely needs something like this - let’s get it done.”</p>
<p>But yes, the high school class of 2011 is the first class eligible.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure some students are being interviewed this weekend for a Texas Exs scholarship (perhaps not the same one). My son is being interviewed for the Dedman scholarship and there have been several mentions of the Texas Exs interviews going on the same day.</p>
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