WARWICK – Forty percent of the first cohort of Rhode Island Promise students enrolled at the Community College of Rhode Island did not return for their second year of studies.
This figure was confirmed to Providence Business News Sept. 28 by CCRI spokesperson Kristen Cyr.
While noting the statistic was leaked from an internal email and lacks proper “context,” Cyr declined to provide an official statement on the matter.
Launched by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo and first implemented during the 2017-18 academic year, R.I. Promise was inspired by and modeled after a similar program established in Tennessee. The Ocean State program made tuition and fees free for full-time associate degree candidates who maintained a 2.5 grade point average and earned 30 credits per year.
Comparatively, the Tennessee program enjoyed a similar 63 percent retention rate of Cohort 1 students from the first to second years of studies.
