When Davila Jackley graduates from the Community College of Rhode Island this spring, she’ll do so without having paid any tuition.
Jackley, 19, is among the 6,300 CCRI students who have enrolled in the Rhode Island Promise program in the last three years. The program offers graduating high school seniors the opportunity to earn an associate degree from CCRI tuition-free, providing they enroll full-time, maintain a 2.5 GPA and graduate in two years.
Jackley, who has a double major in political science and communications, juggles her course load with a job at CVS, volunteering and an elected position as student body president for the Providence campus. And she credited the program for making a college experience financially possible. Her parents wouldn’t be able to pay for her college education, so she would have had to take out loans and work more hours otherwise, she said.
But her younger sister, Davanna, still a sophomore in high school, might not be able to take advantage of the same offer. The pilot program is scheduled to end after one more group of incoming students, those entering in the fall of 2020.
Now Gov. Gina M. Raimondo has proposed making the program permanent, which higher and secondary education leaders said they support.
“Not having a sunset actually allows kids to create a pathway for themselves,” said R.I. Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. “We’re worried we will decrease our college-going population if we are not able to end this sunset.”
‘We’re worried we will decrease our college-going population if we are not able to end this sunset.’
Angélica Infante-Green, R.I. education commissioner
It’s also key to helping families plan financially for their children’s futures, said CCRI President Meghan L. Hughes.
The state has spent $15.8 million on the program since fiscal 2018, with another $7.2 million proposed in the fiscal 2021 budget.
Program supporters point to improved metrics in CCRI’s enrollment and graduation rates as evidence of the program’s success.
Enrollment of first-time, full-time, straight-out-of-high-school students increased 136% in three years, from 1,110 students in 2016 – before the program started – to 2,599 students last fall.
The two-year graduation rate among these students has nearly tripled from 6.8% in May 2018 to 19% a year later when the first batch of students in the RI Promise program graduated. The college is on track to achieve the same or better graduation rate with its 2020 class, according to Sara Enright, CCRI vice president of student affairs.
CCRI has also seen dramatic spikes in enrollment and graduation rates for low-income students and students of color.
“In the higher education space, that kind of dramatic improvement is very rarely seen,” Hughes said, adding that the statewide college-going rate has also increased 8% since the program was launched. “We know the Promise program is at the very heart of that increase.”
At the same time, Rhode Island College has seen its enrollment decrease in recent years, reflecting a national trend. RIC declined to comment on the correlation between its enrollment drop and the start of the Promise program. According to news reports, school officials and student leaders had previously expressed concern that students who would have attended RIC are enrolling at CCRI instead.
When Raimondo made a proposal to expand RI Promise to RIC last year, the program came under scrutiny from lawmakers during public hearings, in part because of the retention rate from the first to second year. About 40% of the first cohort did not return for the second year – either because they dropped out or were no longer eligible.
Funding for the expansion was left out of the state budget approved by the General Assembly last year.
The 60% retention rate has held true for later years of cohorts, which Enright framed as a positive given the increase in the number of program participants. It’s also higher than the college’s overall 54% retention rate, including both full- and part-time students, according to CCRI.
[caption id="attachment_318675" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]
FINANCIALLY POSSIBLE: William Rider, executive vice president of student government at the Community College of Rhode Island, speaks with students Mari Megrdichian, center, and Davila Jackley. Jackley said without the Rhode Island Promise program, she would have had to take out loans and work more hours to afford tuition. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
Martha Kanter, executive director for the College Promise Campaign, a national advocate for state Promise programs, also wasn’t concerned by the 40% dropout rate, noting that it was on par with a Tennessee Promise program considered a “gold standard” among those in the field.
Kanter and CCRI leaders pointed out that Rhode Island’s program has more stringent eligibility requirements than other schools, many of which have lower or no GPA requirements, according to a 2018 report evaluating college Promise programs.
“The more requirements you have on a program in general, the less outcomes there are,” said Kanter, adding that many of the 29 states with Promise programs have revised their requirements in recent years.
Raimondo’s fiscal 2021 budget proposal includes a $257,439 general revenue fund increase, which accounts for stable enrollment but a higher award per semester, according to the R.I. Department of Administration. The governor has not called for further expanding the CCRI program or adding RIC.
Asked for comment on support for this year’s proposal, Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello, said “the House is awaiting an analysis of the effectiveness of the Promise program at CCRI. Speaker Mattiello is hearing mixed reviews.”
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio said, “I support investments that expand access to quality education at all levels. These investments help individuals improve their circumstances in life and ultimately help our economy.”
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
