Free College Tuition Deadline is April 30
Public high school graduates from the Class of 2021 are eligible to apply for the South Bay Promise, a program that will pay the enrollment fees for up to first-time, full-time college students who commit to attending El Camino College in the fall semester immediately after graduating high school.
The South Bay Promise application must be submitted before the April 30 deadline.
The South Bay Promise offers an affordable pathway directly from high school to college for first-time full-time students. Students are encouraged to attend a South Bay Promise information session to learn how you can receive free tuition for up to two years regardless of financial need. Students will also learn how to receive continued priority registration, support from an eligible Student Support & Success Program, personalized program orientations, and more. An information session will be offered April 15. To register, please visit www.elcamino.edu/southbaypromise.
“El Camino College is proud to offer intentional support to help our students succeed,” said El Camino College Superintendent/President Dena P. Maloney. “Each year’s cohort of South Bay Promise high school students brings excitement to campus as these local students learn, grow and bond together. Education changes lives, and El Camino College is proud to help our students reach their goals.”
College Promise programs are initiatives that address the challenge of higher education affordability by offering funding for students to make college attainable. These initiatives also focus on developing a “college-going culture” to increase higher education participation and completion rates of the students they serve, and, as a result, create stronger communities (Miller-Adams, 2015). The California Community College system is the largest higher education system in the country, with 2.1 million students attending 116 colleges. College Promise programs are being developed at a rapid rate to serve the students of our state. The cost of higher education has increased dramatically, becoming less accessible to students of low to middle income families.
El Camino College launched the South Bay Promise in 2014 with two school districts within the El Camino Community College District (ECCCD): Inglewood Unified School District and Centinela Valley Union High School District. In fall 2017, the South Bay Promise expanded to include Torrance Unified School District. What began with just 12 students from a handful of school districts, grew to include more than 800 students from all public high schools in the El Camino Community College District.
The Fall 2021 semester at El Camino College begins Aug. 28. A schedule of classes is available at www.elcamino.edu/academics/schedule.php.
Registration at El Camino College is ongoing; students are encouraged to apply and register online as soon as possible at www.elcamino.edu.