I sincerely hope this is the case and that the policies hastily implemented in April, 2013 have been improved upon.

I saw students who's dreams were crushed and a university who was non-responsive to the needs of the students, their families, and counselors at low-income schools.

You're right, I do have a chip on my shoulder when I am told our highest priority is to recruit low-income students working directly in their high schools and communities, only to see those efforts for naught as they are denied their first choice major, denied financial aid, and only given access to retention programs after May 1. The university did not give the people on the ground adequate resources to make UT a reality and it damaged the reputation of the Office of Admissions and UT generally in these communities that we purport to support the most. I recruited those students, got them excited about UT and to be the first in their families to attend college, only to be confronted with the stark reality of our financial aid proces.

You see the students who come to UT (presumably). I saw the ones who didn't. Many of them went to A&M and a number of their counselors and students showed me each package side-by-side. There was no denying what was going on, at least that year anyways.

I am going out on a hunch and predict that you are recently hired, or that you weren't around when Dashboard was rolled out in 2012-2013, or when you were there during Longhorn Opportunity Scholars (when that scholarship was also disbanded). I am also almost positive you were not there before the transition from entirely need-based aid to this new hybrid merit/need system. Otherwise we would know each other, wouldn't we?

Neverthless, I hope the culture at UT is swinging back towards rewarding low-income students who deserve an opportunity to receive and complete an education at the flagship university. Please feel free to share any articles or success stories that you think I should be informed about.