A major new philanthropic contribution will soon provide crucial financial relief for students at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Longtime benefactor Harvey Najim has committed $5 million to assist undergraduate scholars in covering essential everyday expenses beyond their basic academic costs, university leadership announced.
The multimillion-dollar gift will establish the Harvey Najim Bold Promise Scholarship, an initiative designed to distribute $500,000 per year over the course of the next decade. The funding is targeted directly at students already enrolled in the university’s tuition-assistance program, giving them a much-needed financial cushion for non-tuition necessities.
While tuition coverage is critical, students often struggle with the mounting costs of daily life. The newly created scholarship fund is specifically designated to help recipients pay for off-campus rent and campus housing, grocery purchases, campus transportation, and essential textbooks. University officials emphasized that these living stipends will allow scholars to focus wholeheartedly on their academic pursuits rather than having to juggle multiple jobs just to stay afloat.
This latest financial contribution elevates Najim’s lifetime giving to UTSA beyond the $25 million mark. His continued generosity has cemented his status as one of the institution's most transformative and consequential donors, consistently directing resources toward programs that directly enhance student well-being and academic achievement.
Najim highlighted the broader community impact of expanding access to higher education, expressing his ongoing admiration for the university's student body. He stated that education possesses the power to change individual lives while simultaneously strengthening local communities, adding that his firsthand observation of UTSA students' determination and drive inspired his conviction that every learner deserves a genuine opportunity to succeed.
UTSA President Taylor Eighmy praised the substantial gift, underscoring how deeply the philanthropist invests in the future of the university's scholars. Eighmy noted that the donation reflects Najim’s profound faith in the potential of young people and the life-changing power of a university degree.
According to Eighmy, this ten-year funding commitment expands upon the extensive array of opportunities Najim has previously established for emerging scholars. The university president added that such sustained support equips students across San Antonio and the surrounding region with the strong foundations necessary to build enduring professional and personal futures.
The scholarship operates alongside UTSA’s foundational Bold Promise initiative, which provides eligible undergraduates with 100% coverage of tuition and mandatory campus fees across four full academic years. By removing standard tuition obstacles, the program seeks to make higher education viable for qualifying Texas residents.
To meet the baseline criteria for the broader Bold Promise program, applicants must be Texas residents whose family income does not exceed $100,000. Furthermore, candidates are required to satisfy established academic standards, whether entering the university as first-time freshmen or continuing their higher education pathway as transfer scholars.
Recipients of the new Harvey Najim Bold Promise Scholarship will be drawn from qualified participants attending UTSA or the UT San Antonio Health Science Center. The scholarship is also accessible to community college students who transition into the university through the AlamoPROMISE pathway administered by Alamo Colleges.
To qualify for this specific scholarship support, students must maintain their primary residence within Bexar County or one of seven adjacent counties in the surrounding region. The designated eligible neighboring areas include Atascosa, Bandera, Comal, Guadalupe, Kendall, Medina, and Wilson counties, ensuring the financial aid directly bolsters local communities.
The Bold Promise framework first originated in December 2019, when UTSA initially introduced the tuition-free model to first-time freshmen who ranked in the top quartile of their high school graduating classes and came from households earning up to $50,500. Following its initial rollout, university administrators later widened access by incorporating transfer students into the eligibility pool.
The program's reach expanded considerably in 2024 when the University of Texas System decided to elevate the household income ceiling to $100,000 across all nine of its academic institutions. That policy adjustment significantly broadened the availability of tuition-free higher education, extending eligibility to an estimated seven million additional families across the state of Texas.
Since its inception, the Bold Promise initiative has directly benefited more than 5,000 undergraduates at UTSA, serving as a primary vehicle for educational accessibility across South Texas.
The new scholarship builds upon Najim's history of directly targeting basic student needs on campus. Last year, the donor contributed $1.25 million to a joint initiative between UTSA and the San Antonio Food Bank, allocating $125,000 each year over a ten-year duration to sustain and operate on-campus food pantries at both the university’s Loop 1604 and downtown campuses.
By pairing comprehensive tuition coverage with sustained support for food, housing, travel, and books, the newest $5 million endowment aims to dismantle remaining socioeconomic hurdles, ensuring that financial limitations do not deter qualified local scholars from completing their degrees.
(0)