The promise of a college scholarship transforms a district

Abstract

Promise programs are place-based scholarships, generally tied to a city or school district, offering near-universal access to all living in the “place.” While Promise programs share some characteristics with other scholarship programs, they’re unique because they seek to change communities and schools. Underlying such promise programs is the belief that having access to a guaranteed college scholarship will encourage students to remain in schools, encourage families to remain in a community, and change how educators work with students. This article focuses on the El Dorado Promise in El Dorado, Ark., which began in 2007. From analyzing student data and interviewing educators, the authors learned that the Promise did lead to several changes in the district: enrollment increased; student learning improved; discussions of college permeated the district from kindergarten onward; expectations for all students rose; and enrollment in advanced coursework increased for all students.