WT Expands 50%-Off Offer to All Texas A&M Agencies

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — West Texas A&M University now will offer half-off tuition and mandatory fees to all full-time employees of The Texas A&M University System’s eight agencies.

Employees at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service were the first to benefit from WT’s Agency Excellence Initiative program. WT President Walter V. Wendler spoke with directors from each of the other agencies Feb. 4 while in College Station for the TAMUS Board of Regents’s February meeting.

“The eight TAMUS agency directors were pleased with the initiative and agreed that WT is well positioned to provide an opportunity for their employees to complete or pursue degrees,” WT President Walter V. Wendler said. “WT has been focused on addressing the issues and opportunities unique Texas residents. Working with agency employees to provide opportunities to continue learning, WT and The Texas A&M University System are being responsive to the needs of Texas and beyond.”

TAMUS agencies now eligible also include Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Texas A&M Forest Service, Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, the Texas Division of Emergency Management and Texas A&M Transportation Institute.

The initiative is modeled after WT’s successful Educators Excellence Initiative, which launched in June for full-time teachers, administrators, librarians, nurses, counselors or paraprofessionals working at any school within the Region 16 Education Service Center, as well as employees of the ESC. That was expanded in September to Regions 17 and 18, as well as 1A and 2A school across the state, then in November to eligible employees of community colleges throughout Texas.

The Educators Excellence Initiative contributed to a more than 2% rise in WT’s fall 2025 enrollment. According to numbers released Sept. 11, WT’s Terry B. Rogers College of Education and Social Sciences saw the greatest year-over-year increase among WT’s six Colleges, growing more than 6% over 2024.

The educators and agency initiatives follow in the footsteps of WT’s Employee and Family Tuition and Fees Reduction program, which was offered first to full-time University employees beginning in May 2022.

Both excellence initiatives and the WT half-off waivers are considered to be among the most generous offered by any state college or university in Texas or The Texas A&M University System.

Other conditions, including financial aid benefits, may apply to the total cost of tuition. 

Serving the people of Texas, primarily in rural regions, is the key mission in the University’s long-range plan, WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World.

That plan is fueled by the historic One West comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign, which is now winding down, has raised more than $175 million.

About West Texas A&M University

A Regional Research University, West Texas A&M University is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 66 undergraduate degree programs, including eight associate degrees; and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. WT recently earned a Carnegie Foundation classification as a Research College and University. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 16 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—