SAN ANTONIO — Aspiring college students often face two obstacles: Cost and connections.
Now, thanks to the recent expansion of a life-changing program, every student in Bexar County has access to a free education.
Through AlamoPROMISE, high school graduates county-wide have the opportunity to attend any of the five Alamo Colleges for up to three years. They can earn a credential free of charge.
The program, which previously only included public high schools in Bexar County, expanded in December to include private, charter and homeschool graduates.
Mary Boogaard, a freshman at Alamo Colleges, fell in love with robotics in high school.
"My dream is to work with NASA in robotics, hopefully on to Mars or maybe like asteroids or something," she told KENS 5.
Planning for college, Boogaard knew she'd likely have to work at the same time to afford it. That plan changed when she learned, as a homeschooled student, she became eligible for AlamoPROMISE.
"It means that I can pay more attention to my grades, getting that A average and not have to worry about money and a job and having to find that balance," she explained.
Boogaard is now in her fourth week as a freshman at Northeast Lakeview College, studying engineering.
Alamo Colleges Chancellor, Dr. Mike Flores, says data from Alamo Colleges showed less than half of graduating high school seniors in Bexar County were going to a college or university.
"The difference between a high school diploma and an associate's degree on average is close to $9,500 more a year, and it's close to $500,000 within their lifetime -- and that's just with an associate's degree," Flores explained.
Since AlamoPROMISE's inception five years ago, Flores says they've impacted the lives of at least 6,000 scholars. 500 AlamoPROMISE scholars walked the stage in May.
Down the line, Flores is hoping to expand Alamo Colleges' Promise-to-Promise program, extending a low-cost education to more universities for AlamoPROMISE graduates who qualify. Currently, the Promise-to-Promise program includes UTSA.
"We want to ensure that everybody has an equal opportunity," said Flores. "It provides somebody with a credential. Oftentimes that changes the trajectory of the entire family from struggle to success."
AlamoPROMISE is funded by local governments, like the City of San Antonio, corporate gifts, private foundation gifts and support from Alamo Colleges District.
For more information, visit Alamo.Edu/Promise or call 2-1-ALAMO.
