College Promise Celebrates a Decade of Increasing Free Postsecondary Education with National Convenings

With a focus on growing and strengthening statewide College Promise programs, the organization announces national convenings that will take place across the country with its newly established National Leadership Council

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As the leading national, non-partisan, non-profit initiative committed to making college, postsecondary career-technical programs, and high-impact training beyond high school universal, free, and accessible for students throughout our nation, College Promise celebrates the 10th anniversary of its launch with its first series of national convenings in Phoenix, Arizona and Boston, Massachusetts this summer.

College Promise, in partnership with the Arizona Board of Regents, Arizona Forward, Helios Education Foundation, and Maricopa Community College District, will kick off the first national convening at South Mountain Community College on June 5-6, 2024. The second convening will take place in Boston, MA, at the Mintz Headquarters on August 13-15, 2024.

These convenings will provide policymakers, philanthropists, and advocacy organizations with the technical assistance and model practices to build, improve, and sustain state and local College Promise Programs with leaders who are ready to learn about and adopt best practices that improve program delivery and quality to increase student opportunity, earning credentials of value for success in career and in the rest of their lives.

College Promise leaders, researchers, program staff, and partners will share successful policies and practices with the regional communities with the following goals:

• Improving affordability through public/private and state/local partnerships.
• Using wraparound supports and multi-generational strategies to help students and their families harness their potential for college and career success.
• Using workforce development, advising, apprenticeships, career acceleration, and dual enrollment strategies to expand educational and economic opportunities.

For ten years, College Promise has dedicated itself to making tuition-free, post-secondary education a reality for millions of students. In the past decade, the initiative has built a national College Promise community, supported the growth of local and statewide programs, and revolutionized the Promise Program database by releasing MyPromise Tool, the first student-centric, comprehensive, searchable database of Promise programs in every state. College Promise is currently tracking over 440 Promise programs serving students and their families across all 50 states. This September, in recognition of 10 years of expanding student access, achievement, and support, College Promise will celebrate its anniversary in Washington, DC. 

College Promise recognizes and thanks its founding advisory committee members, its national partners, and its philanthropies and donors, with special appreciation to the Ascendium Education Group, Carnegie Corporation of New York, ECMC Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and The Kresge Foundation for supporting this work.

About College Promise:
College Promise is a national, non-partisan, non-profit initiative that builds broad public support for tuition-free postsecondary education for hard-working students and ensures those students have access to quality educational opportunities and support for their success. College Promise programs aim to improve affordability, economic and social mobility, equity, and inclusion while striving to reduce student debt in order to build a sustainable talent pipeline of Americans for the future. Visit www.collegepromise.org or follow @College_Promise on X or LinkedIn.

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SOURCE College Promise