Over 700 students are enrolled at UCA under Commitment, the university’s debt-free tuition path for incoming Arkansas freshmen.
At the Board of Trustees meeting Aug. 8, Vice President for Enrollment Services and Student Success Kevin Thomas said 758 freshmen registered at UCA under the new Commitment program.
Courtney Bryant, director of UCA Commitment and associate vice president for enrollment management, described UCA Commitment as a “last-dollar program that ensures eligible students have tuition and fee charges completely covered.”
As of Aug. 22, Bryant said UCA Commitment enrollment has increased to 771 students.
“We will continue to review eligible students through August 28. We provided an extension for the FAFSA due to all of the issues the DOE encountered. Therefore, the numbers will continue to change through that date,” Bryant said.
Thomas said the students under UCA Commitment consist of freshmen with an average high school GPA of 3.6 and an average ACT score of 22.
“55% of these students are first-generation students, and we’re very excited to have these first-generation students on our campus this fall,” Thomas said.
According to the UCA website, students enrolled under UCA Commitment must complete 10 service hours a semester or opt-in to work-study placement.
Bryant said, “All UCA Commitment participants are required to complete 10 service hours per semester as documented through GivePulse. They can participate in events supported through UCA, community members or individual impacts back in their hometown.”
“In regards to work-study, we have approximately 70 students who are working within 44 different departments across campus,” Bryant said.
Bryant said enrollment numbers for the next incoming class of freshmen under the program have not been confirmed.
Bryant said, “It is too early to predict participation numbers for fall 2025. The application for the UCA Commitment program will open October 1 for this cohort.”
Freshman Katie Cottier is enrolled at UCA under the Commitment program and said she believes it benefits other students at UCA.
“One of my friends is actually able to go to this college because of Commitment I told him about it,” she said. “So now he’s here with me because he would not have been here without it.”
Cottier said she is unsure if she will continue to be enrolled under Commitment, as it does not cover her housing and meal plan.
She said she is unsure if she will be able to find a work-study that works for her.
“I have to also have a job because I have to pay for my housing and lunch by myself. I don’t know if I’m going to keep being in it, but I’m still going to do my volunteer hours.”
Freshman Ainslee Marrable said she was unable to opt-in for UCA Commitment due to a mistake with the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship.
“The school that I came from, they set up accounts for us and I didn’t know that, so I emailed ADHE [Arkansas Department of Higher Education],” Marrable said. “When I put in my social security number, they were like someone’s using your social security number for an account. They didn’t get back to me until two months later saying that I already had an account and it was already too late.”
She said, “It would have benefitted me 100% because I’m paying for college by myself. So it would have been nice.”