PEGASUS Receives Grants to Expand Program
November 5, 2008
Money will provide 40 scholarships and hire more student mentors.
Written by Sarah Whetstone

The PEGASUS program is focused on helping first-generation college students successfully
transition to higher education and has a proven track record of succeeding.
Texas Tech University’s
PEGASUS program received a total of $53,506 in two grants from the Texas Guaranteed Student
Loan Corporation, a Texas non-profit corporation based in Round Rock.
The Pioneers in Education: Generations Achieving Scholarships and Unprecedented Success
(PEGASUS) program assists first-generation college students (FGC) on their transition
from high school to higher education.
PEGASUS will distribute $750 scholarships to 40 students, which will help pay tuition
of 40 percent of PEGASUS participants; $23,506 will be used to expand the PEGASUS
program by hiring more student mentors who, in turn, will be able to assist more
students.
The program builds an educational community by hiring Texas Tech students to mentor
FGC students during their first year on campus. PEGASUS is designed to assist first-generation
college students as they manage the variety of challenges unique to students without
a family background in higher education.
Each year, the incoming freshmen class is comprised of more than a quarter of first-generation
students whose success in school is threatened by inadequate academic, psychological
and financial preparation before entering college. In addition, statistics show that
first-generation students have lower retention rates than students who are second
or third-generation college students.
PEGASUS strives to counter the obstacles facing students by encouraging education
through outreach and recruitment, scholarships and individualized mentoring and advising
to students who are the first in their families to go to college.