University of St. Thomas in Houston will offer students flat-rate tuition in an effort to make college more accessible and help accelerate undergraduate students’ careers, according to university President Richard Ludwick.

The university will implement a “flat-rate tuition” model beginning this fall, which will allow students to take anywhere from 12 to 18 credits at the fixed cost of $15,400 per semester, or $30,800 for a full year. The previous tuition formula charged students taking up to 15 credits $33,000 per year. The flat-rate plan will save students $2,200, officials said.

The new plan, which aims to help alleviate worries about costs, will only apply to upcoming fall and spring semesters, but UST will offer summer courses at half price, or $550 per credit hour, starting this year.

“It really is about making the University of St. Thomas accessible,” said Ludwick, adding that flat-rate tuition and half-priced summer courses will allow students to progress toward graduation faster and take courses in other areas to get more experience for lower costs.

Flat-rate tuition $15,400 Cost for 12 to 18 credits per semester, beginning this fall $30,800 Cost for a full year, beginning this fall $33,000 Annual cost for up to 15 credits before the change

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The university has also announced several other initiatives and programs coming later this year, including a partnership with Lone Star College and degree programs designed to prepare students for a competitive workforce.

UST’s partnership with Lone Star College aims to create a pathway for students to transition smoothly from the community college system to obtain a four-year degree at the university. The collaboration will minimize the number of required courses needed to earn a bachelor’s degree and craft program-to-program “articulation agreements” that will align both college’s courses.

So far, agreements between the schools have been created for degrees like nursing, mathematics, chemistry and biology, and an international studies program. There are also plans to expand the partnership to include business, psychology, education, and criminology, law and society degrees, according to Sara Johnson, UST’s senior admissions counselor.

Admission counselors at both the University of St. Thomas and Lone Star’s University Center at The Woodlands will begin meeting with students to assist them with applications, enrollment, reviewing credits, and financial aid.

Stephen C. Head, chancellor of Lone Star College, said in a release that 2,200 students from Lone Star have transferred to UST over the past 18 years.

“We expect that number to continue to grow faster thanks to this partnership,” Head said.

UST will also offer five new degrees this fall, including:

A 30-credit-hour master’s degree in applied data science, which is aimed to meet the industry-wide demand for data scientists. Courses will be offered during evenings and weekends, with the option of full-time or part-time programs to accommodate students.

A two-year master’s degree program in industrial and process chemistry. Courses will also be offered to part- or full-time students at night and on the weekends.

Three 60-hour online associate degrees in network technology, electrical technology and cybersecurity, which will give students more flexibility. The new associate degree programs, the first in university history, are $300 per credit hour and are focused on getting students to start their career and make a livable wage sooner in order to support themselves and their families, Ludwick said.

“The impetus behind these changes really grows out of the conversation that the community came together to have about the future of the university,” Ludwick said. The consensus, he said, was to have the university be learning-centered and a place that embraces innovation.

“We’re here for the students, and we want to have their experience be the very best as possible.”

All of the programs to launch later this year also fall under the university’s 2017 campaign “Call Toward Tomorrow,” which has sought to bring more than a dozen changes to the institution over a five-year span.

brittany.britto@chron.com

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