ODESSA, Texas — The University of Texas Permian Basin announced their newest program to help get high school seniors into college. The Direct Admissions program at UTPB will help qualified high school seniors in the Ector County Independent School District and Midland Independent School District get automatic admission into UTPB.
The program was the brainchild of UTPB Senior VP of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Dr. Becky Spurlock, who originally got the idea about nine months ago and helped bring it to light.
“Direct admissions is us working directly with school districts to get the data we need to directly make college admissions decisions and tell students without them applying to college," Dr. Spurlock said. "So rather than them going to the process to get the information to us first evaluate them. We're able to evaluate them directly and go right to them and say you're in and then they can accept that offer of admission.”
ECISD and MISD high school seniors with a GPA of at least 2.75 qualify for the Direct Admission program. The program will benefit just over 1,300 students between the two districts.
Students would have to fill out a quick online form, send the Office of Admissions an official transcript and then wait for a link to arrive via email to sign-up for New Student Orientation.
School officials will be handing out letters to students on their campuses and will mail postcards to families as well.
While they are on campus, UTPB admissions teams will be available to give students some hands-on help regarding the program.
“Our team will work with them one on one, they don’t have to go to Apply Texas, they don’t have to do anything, all they have to do is come to orientation," UTPB President Dr. Sandra Woodley said. "We will work with those students on degree plans, what they may be interested in and - for those who do choose the University of Texas Permian Basin - we will help them take the extra steps that they need to get all of the financial aid that is available to them.”
Scholarship opportunities and financial aid will also be available for students who fit the proper criteria.
“Because we've gotten the data we need we're also able to automatically evaluate students for merit," Dr. Spurlock said. "Any student that qualifies automatically based on their academic profile will get a merit award at the time they get their admissions letter.”
More importantly, the new program opens the door for all types of students who either couldn’t afford college or weren’t able to get in. This paves the way for a brighter future ahead.
“One of the things that happens all the time is we have students who may not think that they can go to college, they are maybe are the first in their family to go to college. They don't think that's an opportunity. They don't know how to tackle all of the processes of applying and getting accepted," said MISD Superintendent Dr. Stephanie Howard. "So the one thing this can really do for us is it opens up some doors for our students who may not know that they have those opportunities."