The Columbus Promise coalition announced Thursday that the program to provide Columbus City Schools graduates with free tuition to Columbus State Community College will remain in place and could possibly expand.
The initiative started in 2021 as a three-year pilot program to provide CCS students with free tuition, fees, career services and a $500 per semester stipend. This is the last year of the original pilot program, and the coalition reports the amount of students from CCS attending Columbus State through the program has greatly increased.
There has also been some talk of expanding the program to other school districts and colleges at some point in the future.
CCS graduate enrollment overall in college has increased from 34% in 2021 to 50% in 2023, with 793 CCS graduates attending Columbus State.
Of those participating in the program, nearly 80% were Pell-eligible and 58% were first-generation college students. The program is also dedicated to accepting students in all circumstances. There is no GPA minimum, full-time requirement, or citizenship requirement to enroll.
The program has offered many students the opportunity to pursue higher education, which some of them previously thought was unattainable.
“College definitely wasn't in my mind. I wasn't planning on going to college,” 19-year-old communications major Jauronika Armstrong said. “Honestly, I didn't feel like I was smart enough to go to college, but I mean, anyone can go to college as long as you apply yourself. And I've been doing very fine. So I doubted myself in the process, but I was like, you know what, why not?”
Armstrong is the first person in her family to attend college and plans on graduating in 2027.
The coalition has also worked with the Upjohn Institute to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. The report says that the Columbus Promise program has been successful in attracting students who would have been unlikely to attend college, but also recommends that more focus should go towards college readiness.