The Red Raider Guarantee

All Texas children deserve access to higher education.

Written by Gretchen Pressley with Sally Post

Now every student will have the opportunity to attend Texas Tech.

Texas Tech is working to improve access to all children.

Current Texas Tech students know the value of obtaining a college degree – winning better paying jobs, earning more money, building on a solid education, even growing in maturity and character. However, some potential university scholars are held back by financial concerns and budget restraints. That’s why Texas Tech has instituted the Red Raider Guarantee.

An effort to increase access to higher education, the Red Raider Guarantee promises to pay 100 percent of tuition and mandatory fees for some Texans.

The program is available to first-time freshman students who are Texas residents and who enroll as full time students each semester. Students must also be eligible for federal financial aid. 

Eligible students who complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form before May 1, 2007, are guaranteed to receive funds.  Any applications received after May 1, 2007, will be awarded based on available funding.  Students may qualify for the program for up to eight semesters of full-time enrollment.

Kent Hance, chancellor of the Texas Tech University System, announced the plan on Feb. 12 before the Texas House of Representatives Higher Education Committee.

During testimony, Hance announced that the plan would guarantee tuition and mandatory fees for the average course load for all new freshman students from Texas whose family’s adjusted gross income does not exceed $40,000. The plan will go into effect for the fall 2007 semester.

“Texas Tech is committed to providing higher education opportunities for financially disadvantaged Texans,” Hance said. “It is vital that we find ways to make college affordable for as many Texans as possible. The state’s future depends on a well-educated population.”

The program is also endorsed by Jon Whitmore, president of Texas Tech University.

“We will pay for eight semesters of higher education, the time it typically takes to complete a degree,” Whitmore said. “This means that many students who did not think they could afford college now can. A degree from Texas Tech means a brighter economic future for these students and for our state.”

Whitmore promoted the Red Raider Guarantee in an introductory speech at a statewide education summit held in Austin on Feb. 16. Read the entire speech here.

“Investing in education means ensuring a brilliant future for Texas and Texans,” Whitmore said during his talk. “Not investing in education, right now, will mean a future of stagnation and frustration as more progressive states move ahead of Texas in the talent and brain race. We cannot let that happen.”

Texas Tech students who are enrolled in 15 credit hours per semester currently pay $6,800 in tuition and mandatory fees per year.  Under the new program, tuition and mandatory fees will be paid by a combination of federal, state and institutional funds. 

Eligible students are encouraged to learn more at www.redraiderguarantee.ttu.edu.

Jan 15, 2020