SAN ANTONIO \u2013 For Miranda Reyna, the uncertainty surrounding San Antonio\u2019s proposed budget decrease is personal.<\/p>\n
The University of the Incarnate Word sophomore is taking five classes while working a part-time job. She told KSAT a scholarship from the San Antonio Education Partnership (SAEP) helped pay her tuition. But she\u2019s now worried about what happens if that support is reduced.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand like, OK, the city\u2019s in deficit, like, but that shouldn\u2019t have to play a part on me and the education that I want to get for myself,\u201d Reyna said.<\/p>\n
She is one of nearly 3,000 college students who could be affected by changes to city funding for SAEP. The organization provides college advising to high school students and scholarships to eligible graduates pursuing higher education. SAEP has been helping San Antonio students since 1989.<\/p>\n
Reyna said balancing college expenses with work is already a challenge. She is currently paying for school while also covering other expenses, including her car, insurance payments and credit cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019m thinking, \u2018I get paid next Friday so how am I going to pay off everything else,\u2019\u201d Reyna questioned.<\/p>\n
The SAEP scholarship she received helped ease some of that financial pressure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt mainly paid off my whole tuition, which was the main worry that I had,\u201d Reyna said.<\/p>\n
SAEP scholarships can be renewed for eligible students, meaning the potential impact extends beyond students who are just entering college. The organization said the proposed funding changes could affect students who are already enrolled and have made financial plans based on receiving scholarship support.<\/p>\n
The city currently provides nearly $2.5 million for SAEP\u2019s scholarship and high school advising program. In July, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones asked local businesses and philanthropists to consider replacing city funding for organizations that could face cuts as San Antonio works to address a projected budget shortfall.<\/p>\n
SAEP was among the organizations identified in the mayor\u2019s request for outside support. The mayor asked potential donors to consider multi-year commitments that would match or exceed the city\u2019s contribution.<\/p>\n
San Antonio Education Partnership CEO Ana Acevedo said the potential reduction is particularly concerning for students who are already in college.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s already impacting people that have already met the requirements and who are working very hard to continue on their course in college to get their degree,\u201d Acevedo said.<\/p>\n
She added the organization is also seeking additional private support, but it does not yet know how much of the city\u2019s funding could ultimately be replaced.<\/p>\n
The organization\u2019s work goes beyond providing scholarship money. They also work directly with students in local high schools, helping them understand their college options, apply for scholarships and navigate the process of pursuing higher education.<\/p>\n
Acevedo said advising is an important part of the pipeline that helps students move from high school into college. The potential loss of funding could also have implications for San Antonio\u2019s overall college attainment and future workforce, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery student that completes their college degree, that\u2019s increasing our levels of educational attainment that will keep San Antonio economically competitive or make San Antonio more economically competitive,\u201d Acevedo said.<\/p>\n
For Reyna, the potential loss of the scholarship could not only make changes to her work schedule, but also how she continues affording her education.<\/p>\n
The funding has not yet been cut. City leaders are expected to vote on the proposed budget Thursday, Sept. 17, when the future of programs like SAEP will become clearer.<\/p>\n
Acevedo and Reyna plan to attend the city budget meeting and advocate for continued funding. Reyna said she hopes city leaders understand the people behind the numbers.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to know who this impacts,\u201d Reyna said.<\/p>\n
Read also:<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 For Miranda Reyna, the uncertainty surrounding San Antonio\u2019s proposed budget decrease is personal. The University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[163,82,151196,84,83,4496],"class_list":["post-436299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-education","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-education-partnership","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news","tag-scholarships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}