Elizabeth Mendoza 
UTRGV – With the COVID-19 virus slowly shutting down the economy, thousands of college students are left trying to make ends meet and pay the bills.
Here at home, UTRGV has provided students with financial relief for those enrolling for Summer 2020 classes.
It’s called the Summer Relief Package and can cover up to one-thousand-dollars.
“We know that students are facing challenges and so these various programs are to directly help students stay focused on their education and ensure that they receive funding support from the institution as we know many of them in their families have been impacted financially,” said Griselda Castilla, Associate VP for Strategic Enrollment at UTRGV.
In order to qualify for the summer relief package a student has to be enrolled in at least six hours for the summer semester. This aid is allowed to be split between summer I and II.
Castilla adds, “If a student recently accepted a loan before the aid was made available, they are able to make a return and apply for the relief package. A loan is allowed to be returned at any point in time if they are not needed, or if a student only needs a small percentage of that loan, they are able to keep what they need and return the rest.”
“This program does not look at need, any student that enrolls during the summer will be able to benefit from this program”
“It’s available to everyone, we wanna make sure that we help our entire student population and those within our community that are wanting to begin or continue their education.”
Some who qualify for the relief package are those that have always paid out-of-pocket, as well as graduate, international, and transient students.
“We understand that they are going through difficult times right now, I think we all are, but our goal at UTRGV is to provide opportunities for our students. We strongly feel that the Summer Tuition Relief Program will help alleviate some of the challenges that they’re facing right now.”
For more information on the Summer Relief Program and how to apply, visit: https://link.utrgv.edu/summer-relief-package/
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