Fort Pierce - Tuesday November 1, 2022: The Indian River State College Foundation on Tuesday voted unanimously to renew funding for the IRSC Promise Program, re-affirming its commitment to enhancing access to quality higher education.
The Promise Program this year has been providing a tuition free path to an Associate Degree for qualified students who graduated this past school year from a public school in Martin, Okeechobee, Indian River, and St. Lucie Counties.
Launched in March 2022, the IRSC Promise Program generated a dramatic increase in college attendance by local high school graduates. More than 1 in 3 public and public charter high school graduates for 2022 residing in the College’s service district, Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie counties, matriculated to IRSC through the Promise Program this fall.
The College will reveal plans for the 2023 program at an IRSC Promise Rally and Community Update on Wednesday, November 16, at 7:30 a.m. at Sebastian River High School.
For the current semester, IRSC has enrolled more than 3,200 first-time-in-college students, besting the 10-year average for this cohort by +44%. Overall enrollment at IRSC has increased by +8.9%. At the same time, college enrollment nationally has dropped 1.1% since last fall.
“We will use this unprecedented growth in enrollment from the beta Promise program to build Promise 2.0 and deliver the workforce Florida needs, from nurses to welders, at scale,” said Michael Hageloh, IRSC Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives and CMO.
The IRSC Promise program is not a grant or scholarship. It is a tuition-paid program sponsored by the IRSC Foundation and funded through generous donor philanthropy and unrestricted investment proceeds.
“The Promise Program is one of the best investments our foundation can make to achieve real change for our community, and we are overwhelmed and gratified by its success,” said IRSC Foundation Board Chair Linda T. Syfrett. “More students are embarking on their higher education journey at IRSC, which can be a game-changer for them, their families and our communities. It is our privilege to support and enhance this program, which does such good for so many.”
Students can pledge the 2023 IRSC Promise at promise.irsc.edu beginning November 16. The pledge deadline is March 10, 2023.
