College students gear up for fall semester classes

College sophomore Cesar Martinez is used to studying in the Polytechnic Heights neighborhood.

He attended grade school at D. McRae Elementary and middle school at William James, and graduated from Polytechnic High School in 2014. At 19, Martinez is earning his college degree in business management at Texas Wesleyan University, blocks from home.

Many students this fall are leaving the comfort of home and heading to classes in a different community or state. But others say staying close to home is the right fit, to save money or to take advantage of opportunities at nearby campuses.

“Everybody else wanted to leave Fort Worth for some reason,” Martinez said, remembering his senior year in high school. “It’s pretty great here.”

He and other students started classes this semester at Texas Wesleyan University on Aug. 19. At TCU, students start classes on Monday. Students at the University of North Texas in Denton also start Monday.

The first day of classes at UT Arlington is Aug. 27. Tarrant County College students start Aug. 31.

“It is very exciting to see all the students returning to campus,” Texas Wesleyan President Frederick G. Slabach said, adding that unofficial enrollment figures point to a record number of freshmen, 320.

Staying close to family and community

Students said there are some simple perks for picking a college just down the street.

“I’m very family-based,” said Jessica Diaz, 20, a junior majoring in biochemistry at Texas Wesleyan. “I told myself I was going to go here because it was so close and so small. I don’t like being too far away from my family.”

Rachel Giles, 18, passed TCU every day on her way to Paschal High School and didn’t imagine going there until she started the college application process. She grew up two blocks from the campus, attending TCU football games and soccer camps. She was accepted at universities in New York and California but chose TCU because it’s close to home and offers a strong interior design program.

She joked that she is also saving money because Paschal’s school colors are the same as TCU’s: “I don’t have to buy any more game-day attire because I already have a ton of purple.”

Giles said she is living on campus to get the full college experience with family support nearby.

“I can go home anytime I want,” Giles said. “I can see them every Sunday at church.”

Staying connected to family and community is also a reason why Lauren Getz, 20, chose TCU. She grew up three blocks from the university Amon G. Carter Stadium. Now a junior pre-med student majoring in electrical engineering, she said her friends were surprised that she picked a college so close to home. But she likes TCU’s sense of community and being able to continue community service efforts she started in high school.

Recruiting in the neighborhood

Area colleges are offering scholarships and programs for students who grew up in the neighborhood.

UTA, Texas Wesleyan and TCU are among colleges that help students at area schools with academic support through Upward Bound federal programs. They are also visible at area high schools through GO Centers, programs in which college students mentor and help high school students with college applications.

“The Arlington schools are some of our top feeder schools,” said Dara Newton, executive director of UTA university recruitment. She said that about 900 seniors from Arlington schools typically apply at UTA.

Newton said the school has counselors available at Arlington high schools through its Bound For Success program, which helps students with college, scholarship and financial aid applications.

At Texas Wesleyan, Diaz and Martinez are using Speak Up scholarships. Those cover full tuition and fees and are aimed at students who completed middle school at William James and high school at Polytechnic Heights. Students must have graduated with a 3.0 grade-point average to receive the four-year scholarship. which is valued at about $96,000.

“Texas Wesleyan is really committed to engaging with our community,” Slabach said, explaining that the scholarship is also a way to reach first-generation college students. Typically, Texas Wesleyan awards two or three a year, he said. This fall, 10 students will start classes with the scholarship.

Diaz said that in high school she worked for grades of 95 and higher and was offered scholarships to universities elsewhere, but a strong offer from Texas Wesleyan sealed the deal for her.

“I was not going to pass up on a full ride,” Diaz said.

This story was originally published August 23, 2015 at 4:35 PM with the headline "College students gear up for fall semester classes."