Raimondo creates $30M fund for R.I. college student scholarships

GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO has created a new higher education student aid program called Rhode Island's Promise. The program, which will cost $30 million when fully operational, will cover tuition and fees for roughly 8,000 Rhode Island natives attending any one of the state's three public colleges. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO has created a new higher education student aid program called Rhode Island's Promise. The program, which will cost $30 million when fully operational, will cover tuition and fees for roughly 8,000 Rhode Island natives attending any one of the state's three public colleges. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

(Updated 3:24 p.m.)
PROVIDENCE – More than 70 percent of Rhode Island’s jobs require a post-secondary degree, a qualification less than half of adult Rhode Islanders have, but Gov. Gina M. Raimondo has put forward a new initiative to help close that gap.

During the 34th annual Ministers Alliance of Rhode Island’s Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Breakfast Monday, she announced plans for Rhode Island’s Promise – a $30 million program which will pay for two years of college and mandatory fees for every Rhode Islander enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island, the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College.

During her speech Raimondo said: “Rhode Island’s Promise honors our commitment to Rhode Island students who are asking for nothing more than a fair chance. … The reality is most jobs being created now in Rhode Island will require some degree or certificate beyond a high school diploma. We are going to stand up and make the college dream a reality for every Rhode Islander who wants it.”

Tuition costs as well as any mandatory fees for full-time students who qualify for in-state tuition will be covered under Rhode Island’s Promise for associate’s degree students at CCRI as well as juniors and seniors pursuing bachelor’s degrees at RIC and URI.
The number of Rhode Island residents enrolled at RIC total 6,330, and CCRI, 14,468.
Currently, according to the governor’s office, nearly 90 percent of high school seniors say they will attend college, but less than 66 percent enroll for myriad reasons, including the rising cost.

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According to a Monday release from the governor’s office, the $30 million annual price tag will be paid for by using “new revenues made available as a result of economic growth and tough choices the state has made in recent years to get its fiscal house in order.”

In the first year of the program, fiscal year 2018, the state will pay $10 million in college tuition at the state’s three public institutions. This will be followed by $13 million in fiscal year 2019, $18 million in fiscal year 2020 and the complete $30 million in funding by fiscal year 2021.

According to information provided on the program’s website, FreeCollegeRI.com, any federal funding or scholarships awarded to the student will reduce tuition cost prior to the state making up the remainder.

For a full-time student with no financial aid, federal grants or scholarships, at current rates, the most the state would pay for in-state tuition and fees at CCRI is $4,266; RIC in-state tuition and fees is $8,206 whereas in-state URI tuition and fees totals $12,884. The state calculates that by the time the program is fully funded and participation is at a maximum, roughly 8,000 Rhode Islanders will receive aid.

High school seniors graduating in the Class of 2017 will be the first cohort of students eligible for Rhode Island’s Promise, but to continue to be eligible they must retain a 2.0 GPA, remain enrolled full-time and graduate on time. Rhode Island’s Promise students who receive an associate’s degree from CCRI will not have their tuition covered under the program if they transfer to RIC or URI to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
Down the road, high school-aged graduates of any Rhode Island public or private high school, home school initiative or those who received their GED before the age of 19, will be eligible for tuition and fee payment by the state under Rhode Island’s Promise.

A previous Rhode Island’s Promise scholarship, established in 2015 with the aim of making secondary education more affordable for all state residents, was funded with $10 million from the R.I. Office of the Postsecondary Commissioner and served as the foundation for this program. While not making a specific commitment to cover a certain amount of a student’s college expenses, it also was designed to close the gap between what students received in financial aid and the total cost of attending school. According to college administrators at the time, thousands of Rhode Island students benefited from the program.

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