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Ukrainian students attending any of its 11 campuses and research centers will have their tuition covered in light of the war in their native country, Texas A&M University (TAMU) System Chancellor John Sharp said, according to a report from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC.
KPRC reported that TAMU will pay for these students' expenses including living costs.
Associate Vice Chancellor Tim Eaton said that the university system has so far deemed 14 students from the Eastern European nation as eligible, the station reported.
It has been more than a month since Russian forces invaded Ukraine on President Vladimir Putin's orders.
“Our students from Ukraine are in a unique, sad and difficult position as their homeland is under attack, their family members are either fleeing to safety or fighting to save their country’s sovereignty," the chancellor said, according to KPRC. "In many cases, our students from Ukraine will no longer have homes to return to, and their parents remain unable to work or worse.”
According to KPRC, TAMU severed research connections with Russian entities earlier this month. It also plans to halt research and student exchanges with Russia.
KPRC reported that the Ukrainian students' tuition will be paid through TAMU's Regents Grant program, which was created to help students dealing with disasters.
It was established in 2018 to add those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
"Grants are set up in a way to where they can be used very flexibly in order to help students recover," Sharp told Bryan-College Station NBC affiliate KAGS. "During Hurricane Harvey, we used it to pay tuition. We used to buy books, to replace books, to replace clothes, all kinds of things like that."
According to Houston CBS affiliate KHOU, the university will disburse the funds next semester. KHOU reported that TAMU also plans to allow displaced Ukrainian professors to access their research facilities.