Dive Brief:
- The Oregon Promise program is designed to open access to higher education by giving students a tuition-free start at a community college, but the GPA cutoff is 2.5 and the application process is extensive.
- The Walla Walla Union-Bulletin reports that students who miss the GPA cutoff with their fall semester grades can continue through the application process and have their cumulative GPA considered at the end of the year — but school counselors worry 2.5 is too high, especially considering community colleges are open enrollment and the country’s original statewide promise program in Tennessee only asked for a 2.0.
- The extensive application process may whittle down the pool from the 7,536 students currently signed up, but critics also say the program limits access by accepting high school or GED graduates in the 2016 spring class only and requiring them to start classes within six months or lose funding.
Dive Insight:
The Oregon Promise program came from the state legislature, which committed to the funds to cover the cost of the program after setting its own eligibility requirements. The program would obviously be more expensive if more students qualified for the tuition deal. In Tennessee, even its lower GPA requirements still surpass what community colleges in the state require. But political will and budgetary restrictions have shaped these programs and will shape the ones in development in other states. Even still, the Tennessee program drew more students than expected for its first year and Oregon’s program, by expanding the state’s college freshmen population at all, will likely be deemed a success.