Nontraditional students benefit from UTA grant

The University of Texas at Arlington has a reputation for helping to educate traditionally underserved student communities.

Thanks to a sizable federal grant, they will be able to do an even better job.

With Hispanic enrollment at 28 percent, UTA was selected to receive part of a $51 million award to be shared among 96 Hispanic-serving institutions across the nation.

UTA’s portion of the funds is $2.62 million, the bulk of which will be used to consolidate tutoring, mentoring and counseling services for lower-income and nontraditional students. Plans to hire staff and purchase new technology for student use are also in the works.

The rapidly growing campus already had many such targeted programs in place, but the grant application process helped administrators find and reduce overlapping and redundant services.

Now the school’s new, albeit temporary, funding source can be effectively used to build on that progress.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Nontraditional students benefit from UTA grant."