Palomar Promise enrollment open for limited time

SAN MARCOS – With just a little over three weeks before the fall semester starts at Palomar College, 2018 high school graduates still have the opportunity to sign up for their first year free at the college.

The Palomar Promise provides these first-time eligible college students free tuition for the fall and spring semesters. For the upcoming academic year, interested students need to apply to the Palomar Promise through http://www.palomar.edu/fye by Aug. 2, 2018. Program requirements include that students submit a FASFA or California Dream Act application.

In October 2017, Governor Brown signed California Assembly Bill (AB) 19, creating the California College Promise. Through funding from AB 19, this is the first time since California community colleges instituted registration fees in 1985 that eligible first-time students will no longer pay tuition regardless of their economic status.

"As a leader in the national college Promise movement and with funding from AB 19, we are excited to be able to serve twice as many first-time college students this year,” stated Palomar College superintendent/president Dr. Joi Lin Blake. “Through the Palomar Promise, every deserving student who wants to attend college will benefit from an accessible and affordable higher education that leads to economic mobility.”

This is the second year that Palomar will be offering a Promise program. During its inaugural year in 2017-18, the Palomar Promise provided free tuition and textbooks to more than 800 freshman from 21 comprehensive public high schools within the Palomar Community College District.

Some students from the San Marcos Unified School District also participated in Palomar College+, which includes a second year of tuition-free education. Palomar was able to launch the Palomar Promise through generous donations from corporate and community partners, including the Palomar College Foundation.

The Palomar Promise program is designed to increase college-going rates of high school graduates by providing free community college access. Through a package of free financial resources and academic support services, the college plans to serve more than 1,500 freshman in the program. In addition, the college promises to assist students to enroll in college, to stay on track to complete their career or academic goals, and/or to transfer to a four-year college or university of their choice.

For more information, visit Palomar.edu/fye.