Making college affordable

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FISCAL PLANNING: Elizabeth Tuttle whose son Harrison Tuttle turned down a $30,000 scholarship to Dean College because he would still need to come up with $20,000, talks about the decision during last Thursday’s enrollment at CCRI.

THERE TO GREET THE GOVERNOR: CCRI President Meghan Hughes and Sara Enright, the VP of Student affairs and Chief Outcomes Officer welcomed Gov. Gina Raimondo when she visited the CCRI Knight Campus Thursday.

THERE TO ASSIST: CCRI guidance officers assist this year’s high school graduates make course selections in preparation of attending classes this fall under the Rhode Island Promise free-tuition program.

Harrison Tuttle is going to be a sportscaster. He’s just going about it a different way then he initially expected. 

“Life doesn’t always go the way you planned, and that’s okay,” he said Friday, after spending the day Thursday signing up at CCRI. 

Tuttle received about $30,000 in scholarship aid to attend Dean College in Massachusetts for four years, and was preparing to enroll in their sports casting program, which works closely with the New England Patriots. However, when all was said and done, Tuttle would still have to make up about $20,000 a year. Tuttle decided that he didn’t want that debt hanging over him.

“My plan all year was to attend a four-year college, but this was just better long-term,” he explained. 

With the money situation where it was, it was CCRI or no college, and the latter was a nonstarter for both Tuttle and his mother.  

“You have to go to college, that’s how you’re going to make it in the world,” his mother Elizabeth Tuttle said Thursday afternoon, standing in the midst of a steady stream of parents and future students registering for the program. 

She knows her son was a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t initially get the experience of living on a campus, but agrees that this is the best course of action for him. He and his mother were both very clear about his plan; Tuttle will attend CCRI for two years starting this fall, and then walk directly into URI debt free through the Joint Admissions Agreement.

The Joint Admissions agreement is an opportunity for CCRI students to complete an associate’s degree at CCRI, and then immediately be conditionally accepted to Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island. This is the common course of action for many of the students signing up. From a future astrophysicist, a marketing major, and a dental hygienist, students with a wide range of career aspirations were signing up to begin their CCRI in the coming weeks. 

Also in attendance at last Thursday’s registration was Gov. Gina Raimondo, who walked around to each of the sign-up stations, speaking with parents and students about their process and plans for the future. 

Gov. Raimondo has announced that if reelected, she would expand the Rhode Island Promise to RIC and URI.

Currently, CCRI, Rhode Island’s two-year community college, is the only post-secondary institution to offer The Rhode Island Promise Program, which allows any student who has graduated from a Rhode Island high school to attend the college for no cost. The CCRI website explains that the Rhode Island Promise program will pay for the remaining cost of tuition and fees in at least 12 credits after all other financial aid resources have been applied.

Under Raimondo’s proposal, the program would be expanded, to allow students to complete the last two years of schooling at the University of Rhode Island or Rhode Island College, also at no cost. Under this policy, students in good academic standing at URI or RIC would also be guaranteed free tuition for their final two years.  

“Promise scholars are some of the smartest, most motivated Rhode Islanders you’ll meet,” said Governor Raimondo. “Fifteen hundred kids are already taking advantage of the free-tuition program at CCRI – expanding the program to adults is common sense, our economy is changing, and every single Rhode Islander deserves a shot to compete in it. And I can’t wait to see what happens when our hardworking high school graduates also have the option of two years tuition-free at RIC and URI!”

The estimated cost of the expansion is $35 million, which takes into account the growth that would come with moving more students through the program. 

Meghan Hughes, president of CCRI, said in a statement last Tuesday, “CCRI supports the expansion of the Rhode Island Promise program to our sister institutions, URI and RIC. With a 43 percent increase in enrollment of first-time, full-time Rhode Island high school graduates in its first year, we know the positive impact the Promise program has had on creating greater access to postsecondary education.” 

The Rhode Island Promise would also be expanded to reach the adult population. The policy would allow any Rhode Island adult to be eligible for free tuition at CCRI, and offers flexible eligibility, so that a Rhode Islander with or without previous college credit would be allowed to attend. While the Rhode Island Promise for young adults requires the student take at least 12 credits, the adult version would mandate a six-credit minimum. 

President Hughes continued, saying, “The governor’s proposal will make all of our public higher education institutions more affordable, creating more opportunity for Rhode Islanders to pursue a degree and obtain the education they need to secure quality employment.”

Sara Enright, the VP of Student affairs and Chief Outcomes Officer echoed these sentiments on the governor’s announcement while assisting with Thursday’s Rhode Island Promise sign ups. 

“It’s exciting. We always saw the Rhode Island Promise as a great first step. Now we’re starting to see the great steps beyond.” 

Enright explains that about 70 percent of students enter CCRI with plans to transfer, with more than 50 percent of them planning to transfer into Rhode Island College or the University of Rhode Island. The expansion of the Rhode Island Promise would help these students financially.

While the initial Rhode Island Promise began last year, the success of the program, as measured by attrition into the second year, isn’t clear yet. However, while Enright explains that she won’t know the exact numbers until early September, many of the first year Rhode Island Promise students seem to be returning for their second year as planned. The turnout for the second year of signups has been strong, Enright said, that while they won’t know for a few days, it looks that the two sign-up days have drawn in more than 500 applicants. 

The expansion would make it even more appealing, said Alex Chapman at signups on Thursday. 

“URI for free would really impact college for me,” he said, “And probably my mom’s wallet.”