Texas A&M University will give free tuition to Ukrainian students next semester, the school's chancellor announced.
The university's 11 campuses will cover all tuition and fees, as well as certain living expenses, for Ukrainian students, Chancellor John Sharp said Tuesday, The Texas Tribune reported.
The announcement came more than a month after Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops began an unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Texas A&M previously announced it would cut research ties with Russian entities, and might do the same with study abroad and faculty exchange programs in Russia.
"These students are Aggies. They're us. And so we want to do everything we can to help them," Sharp told television station KAGS. "Secondarily, we want to send whatever messages we can along with the rest of the country to Vladimir Putin."
Nadiia Viituk, who was raised in Ukraine, currently is a junior at Texas A&M.
"It warms my heart ... I'm really happy ... I'm really proud of my university that they do that because as I mentioned before it, a lot of people just talk and there's like no actions involved," said Viituk, who added she regularly checks on her family in Ukraine.
"We even had like a protest at Texas A&M. And I met quite a lot of Ukrainian because until recently I thought I was the only Ukrainian in Texas A&M."
Associate Vice Chancellor Tim Eaton said at least 14 students from Ukraine have been identified as eligible for the financial support, though the number likely would increase as more students are identified.
"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," Sharp said in a memo to the university system’s presidents, the Tribune reported.
"In many cases, our students from Ukraine will no longer have homes to return to, and their parents remain unable to work ... or worse."
Eaton said funding for the new initiative will come from the university system’s Regents Grant program, which was designed to help students who have been through a disaster.
The grant program was created in 2018 for victims of Hurricane Harvey with plans to give away up to $30 million over 10 years.
"I am certain you will agree that the devastation our [Ukrainian] students and their family face qualifies them for this assistance," Sharp said, the Tribune reported.
The chancellor also said Texas A&M will open its facilities to accommodate displaced Ukrainian professors and students so they can continue their work and research.
"The Texas A&M University system will not sit by and offer any support to Russia, as Putin continues his illegal and immoral attack on Ukraine and its people," Sharp said, the Tribune reported.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.