Sam Houston High School senior Kris Le burst into tears of joy Tuesday morning as she and a small number of fellow classmates were escorted into the crowd-filled auditorium decorated with purple and silver balloons.

As the crowd cheered and applauded, Le and six other Sam Houston High School seniors learned news that they had earned full-ride scholarships to Texas Christian University. Each full scholarship through the TCU Community Scholars Program is worth $260,000, university officials said.

"I was crying so much. I was just thinking of what my future would be like," said Le, whose family moved to Arlington from Vietnam. "This scholarship is the American Dream for me and my family."

Six other students also learned they were recipients of the scholarship during Tuesday's surprise ceremony: Lorenta Asare Kwarteng, Maranata Dadet Bayenikini, Kaylee Hayes, Rose Le, Doreen Nyambuka and Julie Tran.

The TCU Community Scholars Program offers more than $6 million in scholarships annually.

Doreen Nyambuka said she has been wearing TCU's school colors for good luck the past two weeks. The 17-year-old senior immediately called her parents, who came to Arlington from Kenya, about the life-changing scholarship.

"It has been a dream of mine to go to TCU," said Nyambuka, who wants to study nursing. "I was trying to hold everything in but I couldn't do that. Walking down the hallway, we had everybody at the door. We just knew at that moment, it was actually happening. Then we walked in and everyone started cheering."