ACE Helps Future Doctor Focus on Learning

Posted Date: 06/02/2020

If the average doctor graduates with about $150,000 in student loans, Caprock High School grad Alex Saldivar is proud he will be an exception to that costly rule. Alex is one of approximately 2,000 students who have taken advantage of the Achievement through Commitment to Education or ACE Scholarship Program, which funds tuition, fees and books for up to 130 semester hours at Amarillo College or West Texas A&M University. “It’s just really great that I have help through ACE. I have a lot of peers in school who pay out-of-pocket, and it can be a struggle for them to keep coming back each semester,” says Alex, a biology major at Amarillo College.

The ACE Scholarship Program is offered at three Amarillo high schools – Caprock, Palo Duro and part of the Tascosa High cluster – thanks to a partnership between the Amarillo Area Foundation, Amarillo ISD, AC and WTAMU. To qualify, high school students must maintain at least an 80 grade point average, a 95 percent attendance record and appropriate behavior while attending high school. ACE money is considered the “last money in,” which means all federal and private aid is applied before the ACE Scholarship funds.

For Alex, the ACE Scholarship Program is helping him not only follow his dream of becoming a physician but also his desire to serve the community where he was raised. He is thankful for what ACE has given him: a financial boost on what will likely be a very expensive education and the ability to not burden his parents, who have two younger sons to put through college someday. To others looking for the same, Alex says, simply, do not give up. “Chase your dream. Don’t let anything stop you. There is financial aid out there and they will help you find it.”