The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley announced a new scholarship program that will offer full tuition and fees for bachelor’s and graduate degrees while encouraging students to live and work in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Luminary Scholarship will allow UTRGV to retain and attract the best and brightest students in the Valley and beyond, according to UTRGV President Guy Bailey.

The new scholarship program is made possible thanks to the historic $40 million gift to UTRGV from philanthropists MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett, according to a news release from the university. 

The scholarship program will cover: 

• Full tuition and fees for all four undergraduate years.
• University housing for the first two academic years of college.
• Full tuition and fees for up to four years for the professional or undergraduate program to which the student was provisionally admitted, including the UTRGV School of Medicine and the School of Podiatry. 

In addition, the scholarship recipients will sign a pledge to work in the Valley for each year beyond their undergraduate education that is funded. That means a three-year graduate or professional program would require a three-year commitment to work in the Valley post-graduation.

More information on the scholarship can be found online.