Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin introduced The Birmingham Promise in 2019. (JOBsNews Photo/Alex … (+) Brandon)
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College scholarships, success coaches and internships: the Birmingham Promise has it all.
The program, which was created in 2019 and saw its first participants join in 2020, is an example of a comprehensive effort designed to help students achieve educational and workforce success after graduating from high school. It is emerging as a model for how cities can create a successful free college education program for local students.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin’s Birmingham Promise initiative provides up to four years of tuition assistance to graduates of the city’s seven Alabama public high schools (and one virtual school) to attend any two- or four-year public college or university in the state.
The program also provides students with mentors to help them succeed in college. That mentoring begins in the senior year of high school and continues while students are enrolled in college, right up until the time of their graduation. It also facilitates access to mental health services, a student emergency fund, college and career fairs, and mentors in the local business community.
Since its inception, the program has provided more than $9 million in tuition assistance and other support to 1,290 Birmingham high school graduates, more than 90 percent of whom are black. The two most popular college destinations have been the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Alabama A&M, an HBCU in Huntsville. Of the total number of college-bound students, 1,107 have enrolled in four-year schools, although some of them started at a two-year institution.
Of the roughly 1,100 graduates of Birmingham City Schools this year, 682 have applied for Birmingham Promise scholarships. Of course, not all of those students will end up enrolling in college, but it’s still an impressive initial response rate.
Birmingham Promise also offers internships that allow high school seniors to earn $15 per hour, gain work experience, and begin building professional networks that will benefit them throughout their careers. So far, 280 Birmingham students have participated in the internship program, gaining paid work experience with local employers in industries such as financial services, healthcare, retail and hospitality, and communications. About 90% of interns have also received scholarships from the program to continue their education.
The program was originally funded through a public-private partnership. Three companies (Alabama Power Company, Regions Bank and Altec) each contributed $1 million to launch the program. Added to that was a $10 million commitment from the City of Birmingham ($2 million annually for five years). The State of Alabama also contributes just under $900,000 annually for operations and staff.
This spring, Birmingham Promise received a $10 million grant from the PNC Foundation, The largest private donation in the program’s history, which will be paid over the next 10 years and used to sustain the scholarship program.
“Every day, in every decision I make, I am trying to get our city out of poverty,” Woodfin said in a March interview with AL.com“The best way to achieve this is to make the necessary investments in public education. Birmingham Promise is a late-stage initiative, but it provides a detailed plan for high school graduates to graduate.”
Scholarships are funded on a last-dollar-earned basis, meaning the program pays the remaining tuition and required fees after students receive federal Pell Grants, state aid, and any financial aid from the colleges they attend.
The program does not require any qualifications for students to be eligible for tuition assistance. The only requirement is that they be accepted into a college program after completing the application process, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (also known as FAFSA) form.
The program currently boasts a 72% retention rate from first to second year, according to Samantha Williams, who has served as Birmingham Promise’s executive director since 2022. The national second-year persistence rate for all students starting college in fall 2022 was 76.5%; the rate for black students across all family backgrounds and institution types was 67.5%.
Last fall, 50% of the inaugural class was either still enrolled or had graduated with a credential. The program is still waiting to calculate a six-year graduation rate, which should increase substantially as more students complete their degrees in the fifth and sixth years, as is typical for many college students.
Williams, a first-generation college student with a degree in history from Georgetown University, told me recently that she believes the program has the potential to become a leader among similar efforts to increase college access and success.
“We are headed in the right direction,” Williams said. “While we were thrilled that 72 percent of our students survived the first-year cliff and moved much closer to graduation, the strength of our coaching model for success gives me confidence that we can increase that number to 80 percent in the coming years, which would exceed the national average.”
“The last five years have been about launching this program, supporting our students, and laying the foundation for the program,” she adds. “Now is the time to close the gaps at every level: between Birmingham high schools, between our students and the national average, and between what our students currently experience after high school and what we know is possible.”
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