Starting this school year, students at Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC), through the Grand Rapids Promise Zone, will start getting funding for support programs including $500 credits per semester on their Raider cards.
“So far, I’m taking four classes,” said GRCC student Alexsandra Aguilar.
She is a freshman and the first person in her family to attend college. She says the Grand Rapids Promise Zone made it possible.
Daren Bower “It would have been a burden,” said Alexsandra.
The Grand Rapids Promise Zone was started five years ago and covers tuition, books and fees.
Alexsandra said, “My mom, she was going through Facebook, and so she found a post about the Promise Zone, and she was like, ‘Oh, you know, you get to go to college for free.’”
This summer the state of Michigan voted to provide more funding to the program.
“We were able now to apply additional Promise Zone funds to help students experience a full college sort of an experience themselves,” said Grand Rapids Promise Zone Chairperson Tom DeJonge.