The pandemic highlighted what we’ve been saying for years – there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to college. Each student has unique skills, needs, and dreams. And that same description is true of the 350+ College Promise programs in the U. S., spread across 48 states.
Ensuring that students have the opportunity to make the right or best-fit program choice is paramount to increasing equity within our siloed education and workforce systems. If low-income students do not know about or have access to local, state, and federal scholarships (financial aid), and other essential wrap-around supports like a tutor, mentor, or Internet access, they will face even. greater challenges navigating and succeeding in our colleges, universities, and career schools. One tool to help connect students with College Promise programs to help match their unique needs and goals is the newly-released MyPromise tool.
MyPromise enables students and families from all walks of life to have more options than ever before to realize their college and career dreams. MyPromise provides access to the first-ever searchable database of the growing number of College Promise programs in our communities and states.
Students compare notes on educational opportunities.
Stock/CanvaAmerica’s youth and adults, whether they are first-generation, parents, military active duty, veterans, or undocumented, as well as counselors and other professionals ready to help students meet their postsecondary education and career goals will have the freely-available access to learn about and compare the 247 local and 109 statewide College Promise programs located across the country.
“Without this program, I would not be in school working toward a career. I wouldn't have been able to pay for school and I would still be making minimum wage at a dead-end job, especially in this economy with rising inflation,” said one student at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
In addition to centralizing information like scholarship availability, eligibility requirements, and other entrance requirements, the MyPromise tool also includes details about critical wrap-around supports. While they take various forms, these are critical resources beyond scholarships and financial aid that help students to, through, and beyond college.
Parents with young children need access to affordable childcare. Students in foster care benefit from counseling services to help them complete financial aid applications. Integrated classes and student resources support DREAMers, which positively impacts thousands of undocumented students who do not have access to federal student aid. Adult students benefit from more tailored programming like mid-career counseling, child care services, and hybrid or evening class models. All students are better off when they have access to critical health care including mental health support as they navigate one of the most important decisions and transitions into adulthood and throughout the rest of their lives.
College Promise was created to build momentum and support for programs with many different models, but the same core mission: making college universal, free, and accessible. MyPromise will help students research and compare Promise programs so that they can make better decisions about their educational options beyond high school. The strength of College Promise – and why we’ve seen such huge growth in the last six years – is because Promise programs meet students where they are so that students will not only make more informed choices about college, but they will have a more equitable path into the workforce and the American Dream.
