SBCC College Promise Going ‘Spectacularly Well’
The first year of Santa Barbara City College’s College Promise — which offers South Coast high school graduates two years of free classes — has gone “spectacularly well,” said mastermind Geoff Green, CEO of SBCC Foundation, which privately funds the program. Of the 756 students who joined in the fall, 85 percent stuck with the program. This spring, 93 more signed on; 290 Promise students are enrolled in SBCC’s first summer session, also fully funded, including books and supplies. The top three majors for Promise students are business administration, biological sciences, and nursing, in that order. Also, Green added, the program’s mandate that students take a full load increased state apportionment funding to SBCC to the tune of $500,000 this year. That dollar amount will double this fall with the program’s projected enrollment, a welcome influx as the college tackles a $3.7 million deficit.
