Affordability and Career Readiness Take Center Stage as President von Eschenbach Addresses Dallas Regional Chamber

Affordability and value are increasingly important in conversations about a college education — conversations that involve prospective students, their parents and guardians, classmates, middle and high school counselors and teachers, and higher education professionals, from recruiters to academic leaders to university administrators.

That was one of the key points made by Warren von Eschenbach, Ph.D., President of UNT Dallas, at a Dallas Regional Chamber Education and Workforce Council meeting on Sept. 3, 2026. UNT Dallas, he said, is committed to being affordable in the near term and of great value in the long term.

“The affordability issue is what keeps me up at night,” President von Eschenbach said. “We have to be more expansive in our messaging about the value proposition of higher education.”

President von Eschenbach explained that many students about to graduate from high school face a choice: continue their educational journey or start their career journey without a degree. Sometimes, it comes down to money. “For many it’s a trade-off. They are often expected to work, support their family and contribute to the household budget,” he said. Often, prospective students may be unaware of how to reduce college expenses and make a degree achievable.

He cited the Trailblazer Tuition Trust as one of the many ways UNT Dallas is helping prospective students and their families afford the cost of college. It offers free tuition and mandatory fees to eligible Texas high school graduates applying for a bachelor’s degree. Certain requirements must be met, and for those applicants who don’t qualify, the university has other assistance options, including scholarships, grants and financial aid from multiple local, state and federal sources.

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DFW-based organizations such as Dallas County Promise, the Commit Partnership and ScholarShot also provide funding opportunities for high school students who want to attend UNT Dallas — a few of the many groups the university partners with — in an effort to make the cost of college more affordable, and sometimes free.

That affordability push, President von Eschenbach said, has to be paired with a compelling and understandable message about what a degree is worth. It’s incumbent upon colleges and universities to clearly and convincingly explain the long-term value of a four-year degree, including “the impact on individuals, the community and the economy,” he said.

Research by multiple institutions shows that, on average, an individual with a college degree will earn more over their lifetime than someone without one. Those conclusions are backed the Social Security Administration, which has published its own salary and earnings projections.

“Our vision is to be an anchor institution for southern Dallas and first-generation college students,” President von Eschenbach told DRC attendees. “We can have a generational impact as our students become parents, and so on.”

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President von Eschenbach told the group that the impact is personal for him: his parents were first-generation college students who sacrificed a lot to earn their degrees, his mother returning to school later in life after raising children — an experience, he said, that shaped him, his own children and the way he thinks about the university’s mission.

That value proposition also depends on what a degree program actually teaches. Once accepted into UNT Dallas, students receive rigorous academic instruction along with a holistic educational experience — meaning they learn the core curriculum and specifics of their major while also getting hands-on training in their field of choice and developing “power skills” such as communication, collaboration and teamwork, and critical thinking and problem solving. President von Eschenbach often calls these “enduring human skills.”

Students’ journeys also include AI courses, covering how to use the technology fundamentally and ethically. “It will be embedded in their first-year experience,” President von Eschenbach said, with additional classes offered to expand knowledge as students progress toward completing their degree and entering a workforce being reshaped significantly by AI.

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To further prepare students for evolving workplaces, Deans are reviewing all courses offered in the three UNT Dallas colleges — Education and Human Development, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Business and Technology — to infuse what are known as “high-impact practices,” as well as internships and other opportunities for students to gain real-world experience through partnerships with businesses and industries, according to President von Eschenbach.

“We want to ensure our graduates have a successful career, not just a first job,” he emphasized. That means long-term value for all Trailblazers — a goal within reach for many students, including those who may not realize it until they explore all that UNT Dallas has to offer.

UNT Dallas is now accepting applications for the Spring 2027 semester, which begins Jan. 11, 2027

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