Providence City Council Endorses RI Promise Program

PROVIDENCE, RI- The City Council on Thursday approved a resolution endorsing
Governor Raimondo’s proposed expansion of the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship to
provide every Rhode Island high school graduate with a two year scholarship to an
in-state public college or university.

The resolution was introduced by Council President Pro Tempore Sabina Matos (Ward
15), who lauded the proposal as a win for the state and its students: «The cost of
higher education is an insurmountable barrier for so many families. Our high schools
are full of talented young people eager to learn and achieve. Many of them dream of
going to college but don’t have the financial resources to get there. This is their
ticket to higher education, upward mobility, and economic security.»

Cracking the barrier to college, said Matos, can also have a tremendous impact on
the state: «Cultivating a highly educated, highly skilled population is good for
everyone. This proposal strengthens the state’s ability to retain its best young
minds. Our state schools have so much to offer, and this is our chance to capitalize
on that.»

Data suggests that an educated workforce is critical to economic development.
According to the 2016 Rhode Island Kids Count Factbook, 71% of jobs in Rhode Island
will require post-secondary education by 2020. Between 2010 and 2014 in Rhode
Island, adults with high school diplomas were almost three times more likely to be
unemployed as those with bachelor’s degrees or higher.