Assembly OKs bill making RI Promise permanent

STATE HOUSE – With final votes in the Senate today, the General Assembly approved legislation (2021-H 5224A, 2021-H 0097A) sponsored by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi and Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio to permanently enact the Rhode Island Promise program, which provides up to two years of free tuition for eligible Rhode Islanders at Community College of Rhode Island.

The program is currently set to expire with the class entering CCRI in September 2021. The bill, which now goes to the governor’s desk, removes the sunset provision altogether, making the program permanent.

“The Promise program is an excellent example of how we can prioritize affordable college options for all Rhode Islanders. The best investment we can make to help individuals achieve their goals is to give them the access to a college education, which is the pathway to a brighter future,” said Speaker Shekarchi (D-Dist. 23, Warwick).

Said President Ruggerio (D-Dist. 4, North Providence, Providence), “Rhode Island, the nation and the world are increasingly knowledge economies. Higher education is more necessary than ever before, and it has to be available and affordable for all Rhode Islanders. Rhode Island Promise has proven itself effective, significantly improving two-year graduation rates for students. Removing barriers to higher education, particularly its high cost, supports families, helps Rhode Islanders land better jobs, makes our workforce more attractive to employers and strengthens our economy. Rhode Island Promise is a great program that has proven itself effective, and we strongly support making it a permanent resource for students.”

The program was proposed by former Gov. Gina Raimondo in 2017, and is open only to students graduating high school who begin CCRI the following fall. To keep the scholarship, they must be full-time students who qualify for in-state tuition, maintain at least a 2.5 GPA, and remain on track to graduate on time, although the bill amends the program requirements to allow students with disabilities to maintain their scholarship even if it takes them longer than two years to graduate. As a “last-dollar” scholarship program, it funds only the remaining costs of tuition and mandatory student fees after Pell Grants and other sources of scholarship funding are factored in.

When originally proposed, Rhode Island Promise had a sunset provision that would have made it expire with the class that graduated high school in 2020 and entered CCRI that fall. The General Assembly included an expansion in the 2021 budget, extending to the program for students who are currently high school seniors. With the passage of this legislation, the program would be available to students in perpetuity. It currently costs approximately $7 million per year.

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