COLUMBUS – Starting next spring, graduates from Ohio’s largest school district will get a chance to attend community college for free.
The Columbus Promise initiative, announced Wednesday by the city of Columbus, Columbus City Schools, Columbus State Community College and I Know I Can, is based on a program concept used in scores of other U.S. communities.
District and college officials say it could help close equity gaps and make college a reality for more students.
It will allow graduates in the classes of 2022, 2023 and 2024 attend Columbus State Community College full-time or part-time for up to six semesters to complete a two-year degree or a shorter certificate program and will also provide an additional $1,000 a year for books and other expenses.
Columbus Promise Scholars, as they will be known, continue to receive the funding as long as they maintain federal aid standards for satisfactory academic progress.
According to city leaders and their education partners, research indicates that 65% of central Ohio jobs will require at least an associate degree or industry-recognized credential by 2025, but Franklin County currently sits is 15% short of that mark, partially because of large racial inequities.
If pre-pandemic trends continued, the officials say it would take the region until 2060 to reach the 65% goal.