The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) recently announced a major expansion of its tuition-free program known as the San Diego Promise making all\u00a0recent high school graduates who are first-time, full-time students eligible to receive two free years of college.
\nParticipating students may attend San Diego City, San Diego Mesa, and\/or San Diego Miramar colleges.
\nThe expanded San Diego Promise program will cost an estimated $1.86 million in 2018-2019 and be paid for using a combination of state and non-state funds. Participating students\u2019 first year will be funded through an allocation in the state budget called the California College Promise, which implements Assembly Bill 19 (Santiago). Students\u2019 second year will be underwritten through a district-led fundraising campaign.
\nThe district estimates 3,500 or more students may benefit from the San Diego Promise in the 2018-19 academic year. To qualify, students must be a California resident or have attended a California high school for three years, have earned a high school diploma in June 2017 or later, be a first-time college student, enroll in at least 12 units, and have completed a 2018-19 FAFSA or Dream Act application.\u00a0
\nDistrict officials stressed the importance of providing two years of free tuition which will allow full-time students to complete their program of study and enter the workforce or transfer to a university.
\n“A college education is key to economic advancement, since most jobs now require some level of postsecondary preparation,” SDCCD Chancellor Constance Carroll said. “In addition to excellent instruction, the San Diego Promise program also includes individualized support services, educational planning tools, and counseling in order to ensure students\u2019 success in obtaining a degree or certificate. This is all part of a team effort to provide equitable access to our colleges and to improve student outcomes once they are enrolled.”
\nAs part of the fundraising effort that is aimed at generating increased community involvement in the San Diego Promise, Oscar-nominated actress and Mesa College alumna Annette Bening \u2013 a San Diego Promise donor \u2013 will headline a Sept. 20 benefit gala at the San Diego Natural History Museum in Balboa Park.
\nThe announcement took place at a morning news conference held at San Diego Mesa College on June 11. Attendees included dozens of current San Diego Promise students and community leaders who will be assisting in the fundraising campaign.\u00a0
\nLaunched as a pilot program in 2016 with 186 students, the San Diego Promise included 661 students at City, Mesa, and Miramar colleges during the just-completed 2017-18 academic year. Expanding the program means first-time, full-time students this fall will not have to pay tuition for two years as long as they complete at least 12 units and maintain a 2.0 GPA.
\n“Thousands of seniors are graduating this week from high schools in the San Diego Unified School District, and historically one-third will go on to enroll at City, Mesa, or Miramar colleges,” San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten said. “We are absolutely thrilled that the expanded San Diego Promise means all of these students who enroll full time will be eligible for two, tuition-free years at one of the finest community college systems in the country.”
\nOver its first two years, the San Diego Promise has demonstrated positive outcomes. For example, the average GPA for an African-American Promise student this past year was 3.33, nearly a full point above the 2.37 average GPA for other first-time, full-time African-American students, according to a district analysis. In addition, 19 percent of San Diego Promise students \u2013 nearly 1 in 5 \u2013 had a 4.0 GPA this past year, whereas 12 percent of other first-time, full-time students had a 4.0 GPA. And several San Diego Promise students who graduated in May are transferring to UC San Diego, San Diego State University, and other four-year colleges and universities.
\nSan Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer noted the higher salaries that SDCCD graduates earn \u2013 $400,000 more during their working lifetime than someone with just a high school diploma \u2013 and said the San Diego Promise is an investment in the region\u2019s future.
\n“The San Diego Promise program is helping San Diego ensure that our workforce continues to be competitive,” Mayor Faulconer said. “We will have more well-trained graduates contributing to our economy and San Diego’s future rather than worrying about how they are going to pay off their student loan debt.”
\nStudents can learn more about the San Diego Promise and begin the process to sign up by visiting\u00a0sdccd.edu\/Promise\u00a0and clicking on the “Future Promise Students” tab. The district encourages students to complete a San Diego Promise Interest Form by Aug. 2.
\nComo el segundo m\u00e1s grande de los 72 distritos de colegios comunitarios de California, el Distrito de Colegios Comunitarios de San Diego atiende a aproximadamente 100,000 estudiantes anualmente a trav\u00e9s de tres colegios de dos a\u00f1os y la Educaci\u00f3n Continua de San Diego. Las tres universidades, San Diego City College, San Diego Mesa College y San Diego Miramar College, ofrecen t\u00edtulos de asociado y certificados en programas ocupacionales que preparan a los estudiantes para la transferencia a universidades de cuatro a\u00f1os y trabajos de nivel inicial. Mesa College tambi\u00e9n ofrece una licenciatura en Gesti\u00f3n de informaci\u00f3n de salud. Educaci\u00f3n Continua ofrece educaci\u00f3n para adultos sin cr\u00e9dito en siete campus a lo largo de San Diego.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) recently announced a major expansion of its tuition-free program known as the San Diego Promise making all\u00a0recent high school graduates who are first-time, full-time students eligible to receive two free years of college. Participating students may attend San Diego City, San Diego Mesa, and\/or San Diego Miramar colleges. […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":280775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11559","_seopress_titles_title":"Free college tuition program expanded to all recent high school grads","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11559,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beach-bay-press","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}